Indian govt fails to provide evidence for Mallya extradition, UK court hears

The Indian government has failed to provide any substantial evidence to justify extraditing tycoon Vijay Mallya from Britain to face fraud charges, his lawyer told a London court on Wednesday.

India wants to extradite 62-year-old Indian businessman from Britain to face criminal action relating to loans taken out by his defunct Kingfisher Airlines and Indian authorities want to recover about $1.4 billion they say Kingfisher owes.

In her closing submission, Mallya’s lawyer Clare Montgomery told London’s Westminster Magistrates Court that India had failed to provide enough evidence to form a “prima facie” case against him necessary to warrant his extradition.

“It’s undermined and set to nought by their own evidence,” she said. The Indian government says Kingfisher took out a series of loans from Indian banks, in particular the state-owned IDBI, with the aim of palming off huge losses which Mallya knew the
failing airline was going to sustain.