Hours after the UK Home Secretary confirmed that one of India's most wanted fugitives, Vijay Mallya will be extradited to the country, the liquor baron is still staying put, says he will challenge the order.
"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," Mallya wrote on Twitter.
The former liquor baron who is wanted in India in a number of cases including loan default and money laundering now has 14 days time to file his appeal.?
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Earlier on Monday, British home secretary Sajid Javid signed the order for fugitive Indian tycoon Mallya¡¯s extradition back to India.?
The move came nearly two months after the court in Westminster Court in London sent the case to him for a decision.
¡°On 3 February, the Secretary of State, having carefully considered all relevant matters, signed the order for Vijay Mallya¡¯s extradition to India. Vijay Mallya is accused in India of conspiracy to defraud, making false representations and money laundering offences,¡± a spokesperson of the home office said.
UK clearing the Indian government's request to extradite Mallya is a huge victory for PM Modi and the BJP ahead of the elections.
"Modi Government clears one more step to get Mallya extradited while Opposition rallies around the Saradha Scamsters," Arun Jaitley who has handed over the interim charge of the Finance Ministry to Piyush Goyal said in a tweet.? ?
The 63-year-old former Rajya Sabha MP is accused of defaulting on loans of about Rs 9,000 crore to various banks.
Once called 'king of good times' the flamboyant businessman ran into trouble with one of his most ambitious ventures, the Kingfisher Airlines, which he founded in 2005. The low budget carrier was in its prime the biggest airline in terms of passengers, but was running on losses.
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The operational losses were mounting day-by-day to the point where the entire fleet was grounded in October 2012 and by February 2013 its license were revoked.
The consortium of the banks tried different settlements with Mallya to recover their loans, but nothing worked out, forcing them to take the case to the courts.
In May 2016, Mallya fled to UK to avoid arrest and has been living in London ever since.