London, Dec 9: The verdict whether liquor baron Vijay Mallya can be extradited to India will be pronounced on Monday, December 10 at Westminster Magistrates' Court. A joint team of CBI and ED, led by CBI Joint Director A Sai Manohar, has left for the UK to attend the court proceedings led by Judge Emma Arbuthnot.
The trial, which opened at the Magistrates' Court on December 4 last year, has gone through a series of hearings beyond the initial seven days earmarked for it. Vijay Mallya faces the charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to Rs 9,000 crore.
Mallya who has been on bail since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April last year has contested that the case against him is "politically motivated" and the loans he has been accused of defrauding on were sought by Kingfisher Airlines and not him.
“I did not borrow a single rupee. The borrower was Kingfisher Airlines. Money was lost due to a genuine and sad business failure. Being held as guarantor is not fraud,” he had tweeted his justification adding “I have offered to repay 100 per cent of the principal amount to them. Please take it.”
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) team led by Mark Summers had laid Indian government's prima facie case of fraud and money laundering against Mallya. Summers sought to establish a "blueprint of dishonesty" against the businessman and that there are no bars to his extradition on human rights grounds.
Meanwhile, Mallya's defence team, led by Clare Montgomery, attempted to prove that the erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines' alleged default of bank loans was the result of business failure rather than "dishonest" and "fraudulent" activity by its owner. The defence tried to establish that Kingfisher Airlines was suffering from consequences of a wider global financial crisis around 2009-2010 and that its failure was a result of factors beyond the company's control.
The court was also told that a consortium of Indian banks, led by State Bank of India (SBI), had rejected an offer by the liquor baron in early 2016 to pay back nearly 80 per cent of the principal loan amount owed to them.
Judge Emma Arbuthnot had noted, "There are clear signs that the banks seem to have gone against their own guidelines [in sanctioning some of the loans].”
Mallya’s jail cell becomes a bone of contention
Mallya’s lawyers had also contended Barrack 12 at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, where the businessman is to be held if he was to be extradited to India, lacked natural light. They also raised the issue of overcrowding in Indian jails and security issues.
However, the CBI had presented a video to court showing that Mallya will not only have access to natural light with large windows but will also get to stroll in a courtyard. He will have a private toilet and even a TV, besides getting access to the jail library. However, Mallya’s lawyers rubbished the video.
What happens after extradition?
“If the judge is satisfied that all of the procedural requirements are met and that none of the statutory bars to extradition apply, he or she must send the case to the Secretary of State for a decision to be taken on whether to order extradition,” PTI quoted Pavani Reddy, a UK-based legal expert and Managing Partner of Zaiwalla & Co, as saying.
The judge’s decision on whether to send Mallya’s case to UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid can be appealed in the UK High Court. The person to be extradited is entitled to make an application for permission to appeal to the High Court within 14 days of the date of the Magistrate’s ruling.