Vijay Mallya’s appeal against extradition rejected by UK court

Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya's written appeal against an extradition order passed by a magistrate late last year has been rejected by a High Court judge in the United Kingdom. He will now face an oral hearing on his appeal against the decision.

The Westminister Magistrate's Court had ruled against the 62-year-old businessman, who is wanted in India on charges of not paying back loans worth Rs. 9,000 crore, on December 9 last year. Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot had concluded that Vijay Mallya has a case to answer in the Indian courts over substantial "misrepresentations" of his financial dealings while he was heading the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

The development came days after he offered to curb his living expenses to pay back debt his defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes banks in India.

Mallya’s lawyers have told State Bank of India, which is among lenders owed £1.142 billion ($1.5 billion) by his defunct Kingfisher Airlines, that their client is willing to cut his spending to £29,500 a month, SBI’s lawyers told a London court Wednesday. He is currently spending about £18,300 a week.

The banks are seeking to seize about £258,000 held in Mallya’s ICICI Bank UK Plc account. They have accused Mallya of willfully defaulting on debts of Kingfisher Airlines, which was founded in 2005 and folded in 2012.

Mallya, who escaped to London in 2016, is fighting his extradition to India.