Mallya: Multiple errors in extradition directive

London, February 11

Liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Tuesday appeared before the Royal Courts of Justice here for his appeal against extradition to India to face fraud and money laundering charges amounting to Rs 9,000 crore, where his lawyers claimed “multiple errors” in a magistrates’ court’s order.

The former Kingfisher Airlines boss, who remains on bail since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April 2017, avoided the usual scrum of reporters at the court entrance and went in with his lawyers separately. “I’m just here to listen,” he said, when asked for a comment.

Justice Stephen Irwin and Justice Elisabeth Laing were told by Mallya’s barrister that Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot’s verdict in favour of extradition in December 2018 was flawed and also questioned the admissibility of some witness statements submitted by the Indian government.

Clare Montgomery opened her arguments to try and establish that Mallya had no fraudulent intentions when he sought bank loans for his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines because he is no “fly by night figure but an immensely wealthy man”. — PTI