Trying his level best to evade the extradition process, fugitive liquor baron, Vijay Mallya has filed his application in the UK High Court, seeking permission to appeal against the extradition order signed by the British Home Secretary.
As per reports, the business tycoon, who remains on an extradition warrant in the UK, had made the application in the Administrative Court division of the High Court on Thursday, 10 days after Home Secretary Sajid Javid signed the extradition order, giving Mallya a 14-day window for the appeal application.
According to a UK court representative, “the application has been sent for a judge on papers decision, which is expected any time between two to four weeks.”
A ‘judge on papers’ decision will involve a High Court judge examining the merits of the application and if it is accepted, the case will proceed to a ‘substantive hearing’ in the next few months’ time, as per reports.
If by any chance Vijay Mallya’s application gets rejected at this stage, he will have the option to submit a ‘renewal form’.
The renewal process will lead to a 30-minute oral hearing, during which Mallya’s legal team and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), representing the Indian government, will renew their respective claims for and against an appeal for a judge to decide if it can proceed to a full hearing. This process may take months depending on various factors, such as availability of judges.
Following the outcome at the High court level, both parties could appeal to the Supreme court, which would further delay the process by another six weeks.
However, that process is more complex as the UK High Court must certify that the appeal involves a point of law of general public importance, and either the High Court or the Supreme Court gives leave for the appeal to be made.
Mallya who is active on social media did not make any renewed comment on his appeal. However, earlier after the home secretary had signed off on the Westminster Magistrate’ Court order in favour of Mallya’s extradition on February 4, the businessman had taken to social media to confirm his plans to seek an appeal.
After the decision was handed down on December 10,2018 by the Westminster Magistrates Court, I stated my intention to appeal. I could not initiate the appeal process before a decision by the Home Secretary. Now I will initiate the appeal process.
— Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) February 4, 2019
The fugitive business tycoon and the former boss of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines has been wanted by Indian authorities after he fled to the UK in early 2016.
Recently, there have been reports that the Enforcement Directorate (ED), through a consortium of banks led by the SBI, has informally conveyed to Heineken NV, the part-owner of United Breweries (UB), that it intends to allow banks to auction Vijay Mallya’s shares in the company that the banks had attached once the court grants its approval to the agency for the same.
Earlier last month the former Rajya Sabha MP was declared a fugitive economic offender by the special PMLA court in Mumbai and there were reports that his properties could now be confiscated by the Government of India.
It was reported in October 2018, that Swiss bank USB had moved the UK High Court seeking an order of eviction against Vijay Mallya, his mother, and son from their plush multi-million-pound mansion overlooking Regent’s Park in London. The bank has sought repossession of the property over the non-payment of a 20.4 million pounds’ mortgage loan.
Mallya had left India in March 2016 and is wanted by Indian authorities for defaulting on loans taken from a consortium of Indian banks to the tunes of 9000 crores.
