Mallya extradition: India may seek clubbing of two cases

With Vijay Mallya arrested for the second time on India’s extradition request, the CBI and ED may seek the clubbing of its two cases in a British court to expedite the process. Mallya’s second arrest comes five months after the first one, which was based on charges of fraud.

He was first arrested in April in connection with the CBI case involving default of loan, which now has grown to over Rs 9,400 crore.

Bail given
He was given bail and the court posted the extradition request for hearing on December 4. Sources said Tuesday’s arrest was procedural and nothing should be read into Mallya getting bail. In the first instance also, Mallya was granted bail soon after his arrest. An arrest prior to the extradition hearing is as normal as the bail, a senior official said.
Officials said all the evidence regarding “falsities, misstatements and false representations” of Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines and its officials had been forwarded to the authorities in UK. Before getting Mallya extradited, a number of steps need to be crossed.
The extradition process starts with the judge deciding on whether to issue a warrant of arrest. If a warrant is issued, the person is arrested and brought before the court for preliminary hearing.

This is followed by an extradition hearing following which the final decision is taken by the Secretary of State. The person facing extradition has the right to appeal to higher judiciary, including the Supreme Court there, against the decision.
Investigators in CBI and ED said that the IDBI loan was disbursed to Kingfisher Airlines “despite weak financials, negative net-worth, low credit rating of the borrower company”. Also, they said, the company did not satisfy the norms stipulated in the corporate loan policy of the bank.