Vijay Mallya was today granted bail until 4th of December by Chief Magistrate Emma Louise Arbuthnot of Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London who fixed the next hearing for 6th of July.
The 61-year-old former chief of now-defunct Kingfisher airlines appeared before Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London for his extradition case hearing.
Earlier, Mallya claimed that he has enough evidence to plead his case. He said to reporters that he has not eluded any court.
Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service, CPS, presented the case in court on behalf of the Indian authorities. The CPS had met a joint team of Central Bureau of Investigation, CBI and Enforcement Directorate, ED officials in London last month to thrash out details of the case. Official sources had said after the meeting held in early May that their aim was to build a strong, infallible case and these meetings will help resolve issues across the table.
Meanwhile, Minister of state for External Affairs General V K Singh today refused to fix a time frame for bringing back fugitive Indian businessman Vijay Mallya. He said, India will act when the UK law gives a go ahead.
Talking to the media in Bhubaneswar, Mr Singh said, the United Kingdom is examining the documents submitted by ED on the extradition of Vijaya Mallya. He said, extradition is a lengthy process involving tough conditions.
Mallya, who is wanted in India for Kingfisher Airlines’ default on loans worth nearly 9,000 crore rupees, has been in the UK since March 2016 and was arrested by Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant on 18th April.
