The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday filed a 2,000-page dossier in a London court as evidence against embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who is wanted in India for defaulting on several bank loans amounting to nearly Rs 9,000 crore. Mallya also appeared before the Westminster Magistrates Court for the hearing in his extradition case.
The court has set the next date for hearing on September 14.
Mallya has been hiding out in a mansion near London since March 2016 and was briefly arrested by Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant on April 18, before being let off on a bail bond worth 650,000 pounds.
"I do as my lawyers advise," the 61-year-old former chief of erstwhile Kingfisher airlines said when asked about his appearance despite being granted an exemption by Chief Magistrate Emma Louise Arbuthnot at the last hearing on June 13.
If the District Judge rules in favour of his extradition at the end of the trial, the UK home secretary must order Mallya's extradition within two months of the appropriate day. However, the case can go through a series of appeals before arriving at a conclusion, said the Times of India, reporting the development on Thursday.
The development comes in the wake of a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Wednesday issuing a fresh non-bailable arrest warrant (NBW) against Mallya and other accused, including IDBI officials, in the alleged loan default case.
On 13 June, Chief Magistrate Emma Louise Arbuthnot had granted bail to Mallya until 4 December and scheduled the next hearing for 6 July. The court had exempted Mallya from being present personally for the hearing.
At the last hearing, the Indian government had received a setback as Aaron Watkins, counsel representing India, admitted in the court he needs more time to provide further evidence to extradite Mallya, online news portal Firstpost.in said.
"We have not received final evidence," Watkins pleaded in the court, Firstpost reported.
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The court had expressed surprise at the shoddy progress made by the Indian authorities in gathering evidence.
The CBI is specifically investigating default of a Rs 900-crore loan by Kingfisher Airlines, Mallya's now defunct company, said Firstpost.
Firstpost said that the CBI suspects a quid pro quo by Mallya and executives of Kingfisher Airlines to expedite the loan process and has alleged that Mallya diverted about Rs 263 crore from the Rs 900 crore loan for "personal" use against norms and regulations.
India and the UK have an Extradition Treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement -- Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was sent back to India last October to face trial in connection with his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.
The investigating agency had arrested nine persons, including former executives of Kingfisher Airlines and IDBI Bank officials, in January.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also probing the money laundering angle. The ED chargesheet in the PMLA court on Wednesday revealed that Rs 417 crore was remitted outside the country under the pretext of lease rental payment and other miscellaneous payments. Moreover, ED has alleged that the brand valuation of KFA was wrong.
The court issued the fresh NBW at ED's request after the anti-money laundering agency submitted that Mallya is in the UK and has failed to appear before it on previous occasions too.
