Vijay Mallya's extradition likely to be discussed in talks between Indian, UK Home Secretaries today.
A team of officials from the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) reached London for discussions on the extradition of the liquor baron, yesterday.
A four-member team led by CBI Additional Director Rakesh
Asthana will apprise British authorities about the finer points of the
loan default cases against Mallya, CBI sources said. Two senior ED
officials are also part of the team, they said.
Mallya's extradition is now before the British court where neither the
CBI nor the ED is a direct party. Indian agencies primarily aid and
assist British prosecutors with case material to counter the plea of
absconders before the courts, an official explained.
The
agencies' move to send a team to London is aimed at presenting a strong
case for the extradition of the liquor baron before the court.
The
61-year-old was arrested by British authorities last month on India's
extradition request in connection with loan default case of IDBI Bank,
being investigated by the CBI. He was released on bail within hours by a
London court which has fixed May 17 as the next date of hearing.
Vijay Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes more than
Rs. 9,000 crore to various banks, had left India on March 2, 2016.
The
extradition process from the UK involves a number of steps including a
decision by the judge on whether or not to issue a warrant of arrest.
In
case of a warrant, the person is arrested and brought before the court
for preliminary hearing followed by an extradition hearing before a
final decision is taken by the Secretary of State.
The 'wanted' person has the right to appeal to higher courts against any decision all the way up to the Supreme Court.