On July 2, the UK High Court in London permitted the fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya to appeal against a lower court’s verdict for his extradition.
The beleaguered businessman had appealed against United Kingdom Home Secretary Sajid Javid’s order of clearing his extradition to India to face charges of fraud worth Rs 9,000 crore. The bench headed by Justices George Leggatt and Andrew Popplewell of the Administrative Court division of the Royal Courts of Justice heard the application which was filed in April. The bench said that the arguments could be reasonably made on some of Westminster Magistrates’ Court Chief Magistrate Judge Emma Arbuthnot’s conclusions in her prima facie case ruling.
The result of the hearing came as a reprieve for Mallya who lost a UK High Court “leave to appeal” on paper and led to an oral hearing of his renewal application this week.
Last year in December Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot of Westminster Magistrate Court in London found Mallya of “clear evidence of dispersal and misapplication of loan funds”. The court also agreed on a prima facie case of fraud and conspiracy to launder money against the former liquor baron.
Clare Montogometry QC who was representing Mallya on July 2, argued that there were multiple faults on Emma Arbuthnot’s decision. She also pointed out that Sajid Javid had failed to check that Mallya would only face trial for the offence for which he was being extradited and not for any other crimes.
She had proffered five grounds on which she wanted to leave to appeal. The bench only granted Mallya to appeal on the prima facie grounds. The other grounds were – inhuman prison conditions in India, charges against Mallya was politically motivated, Mallya will receive an unfair trial in India and that if sent to India he will be facing trials for other offences as well.
Outside the court, when asked about the hearing, Mallya expressed relief. He said to the media persons that he was glad about his win on the prima facie. He said, “The division bench felt that the Westminster magistrate’s decision is appealable. It means a lot to me.”
Later he took to Twitter and wrote that “Justice prevails” and “God is great”. He also reiterated that he was falsely charged.
Despite the good Court result for me today, I once again repeat my offer to pay back the Banks that lent money to Kingfisher Airlines in full. Please take the money. With the balance, I also want to pay employees and other creditors and move on in life.
— Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) July 2, 2019
In another tweet he wrote:
After all the mockery made of me I would respectfully ask those interested parties to focus on the Divisional Bench Judgement in England today allowing me to challenge the core of the false prima facie case filed against me by the CBI. Witch-hunt ?
— Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) July 2, 2019
Mallya was accompanied by his son- Sidharth and partner Pinky Lalwani.
What’s next?
As Mallya has been granted leave to appeal, a full hearing will take place at the high court in the next four to six months. If Mallya wins the hearing, he won’t be extradited. However, if he loses, he can still try to appeal in the Supreme Court by stating there is a point of law of general public importance in the case. The Supreme Court hearing would at least take a year after the high court hearing. If Mallya wins his appeal than Indian government can approach the Supreme Court.
Also Read: UK Clears Vijay Mallya’s Extradition; Liquor Baron Says Will File An Appeal
