April 18: The first small steps towards Vijay Mallya's extradition were taken today when the industrialist voluntarily went to a police station, was formally arrested by Scotland Yard, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court and received conditional bail pending a deposit of a hefty £650,000.
All this happened in the space of three hours. Mallya has received bail on condition he resides at his home address, does not attempt to leave England and Wales, and does not apply for any travel documents.
Mallya, 61, has since March last year been living in Britain where he has the status of a UK resident. Sources said his extradition was being sought on two grounds: a CBI allegation that he defrauded banks in India and a money-laundering probe by the Enforcement Directorate.
A characteristically insouciant tweet marked Mallya's reaction to today's developments: "Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in court started today as expected."
The first hint that something was happening came in a statement from Scotland Yard, which made it clear it had acted on behalf of the Indian government, which has been pressing for Mallya's return.
"Officers from the Metropolitan Police's extradition unit have this morning, Tuesday 18 April, arrested a man on an extradition warrant," the statement said. "Vijay Mallya, 61 (18/12/1955), was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud."
An Indian government request for Mallya's deportation had been rejected earlier this year.
Virendra Sharma, Labour MP for Ealing Southall and chairman of the Indo-British All Party Parliamentary Group, told The Telegraph: "The decision on extradition will be taken by the courts. The British government cannot interfere in that decision but it can give an indication that it supports extradition."
How long this process will take is impossible to predict but the wheels have been set into motion.
Indian finance minister Arun Jaitley, who was in London last month for talks with chancellor Phillip Hammond, has said he had raised the subject of Mallya when Prime Minister Theresa May dropped in for a few minutes to see him.
The Indian high commissioner in London, Y.K. Sinha, too told reporters that the British foreign office was being pressed to speed up Mallya's extradition. It is likely that home secretary Amber Rudd, acting on a request from the foreign office, had told Scotland Yard to arrest Mallya.
It's possible that the Indian government has hinted that larger questions of trade with Britain would depend partly on whether Mallya is extradited. His lawyers will argue that he cannot expect a fair trial in India.
A case management hearing has been scheduled for May 17 at 2pm.
Via : Telegraph News
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