Vijay Mallya Arrives At U.K. Court For Extradition Hearing

Vijay Mallya arrived at a London court today for a hearing in his extradition case, during which the judge is expected to review a video of the Mumbai jail cell prepared by the Indian authorities for the embattled liquor tycoon.

The 62-year-old former Kingfisher Airline boss reached the Westminster Magistrates' Court at around 2 p.m. IST.

Mallya, who has been on bail on an extradition warrant since his arrest in April last year, responded to the swarm of reporters gathered outside the court in his characteristic manner, saying the “courts will decide”.

“As far as I am concerned, I have made a comprehensive settlement offer before the Karnataka High Court. I hope the honourable judges will consider it favourably; everybody gets paid off and I guess that's the primary objective, said Mallya, who is fighting extradition to India on charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to around Rs 9,000 crore.

The Crown Prosecution Service, arguing on behalf of the Indian government, had agreed to the request and the video has since been submitted to the court.

Mallya's defence team had demanded an inspection of the jail cell to ensure it meets the U.K.'s human rights obligations related to extradition proceedings.

The CPS stressed that the Indian government had provided adequate material which rendered the need for an inspection unnecessary, leading to the demand for a video recording to be reviewed by the court.

The judge is also expected to hear the final closing arguments in the case, after which a timeline for her ruling is likely to become clearer.

The extradition trial, which opened at the London court on Dec. 4 2017, is aimed at laying out a prima facie case of fraud against Mallya.

It also seeks to prove there are no ‘bars to extradition' and that the tycoon is assured a fair trial in India over his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines' alleged default of over Rs 9,000 crore in loans from a consortium of Indian banks.

The CPS has argued that the evidence they have presented establishes “dishonesty” on the part of the businessman and that there are no bars to him being extradited from the U.K. to face Indian courts.