Vijay Mallya arrested by Scotland Yard in London, granted bail
Industrialist and Business tycoon Vijay Mallya has been arrested by Scotland Yard police in London today. He is produced in Westminster Magistrates’ Court and released on bail just after three hours after arrest.
The arrest was made in response to the request from Indian Government for formal extradition of Vijay Mallya. The request was made based on the Extradition Treaty between United Kingdom and India. The Indian Government asserted that the case of extradition of Vijay Mallya is “legitimate” and a suitable action on this request would prove British “sensitivity towards our concerns”. The request was made on February 8 this year and was certified by the Secretary of State of United Kingdom last month.
Indian Government had been trying to get Vijay Mallya to India for a long time. The Government even cancelled Indian passport of Mallya and requested UK Government to deport him. Unfortunately UK officials did not agree with this and informed that as Vijay Mallya has a UK visa, he can stay there without an Indian passport. But the efforts of Indian Government have paid off finally with the arrest of Mallya.
The news of Vijay Mallya arrested come as a breather for IDBI Bank but the tycoon was soon released on bail. The Business tycoon has been accused of defaulting on bank loans of approx. INR 9000 Crores. The loans were granted to him for his airlines venture – Kingfisher Airlines. Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a charge-sheet against him of around 1000 pages.
There’s a complete process to be followed for extradition. The judge may decide to issue or refuse to issue arrest warrant. Once the warrant is issued, the person is arrested and produced in court for preliminary hearing. This is followed by the extradition hearing. After both the hearings are over, a final decision is taken by the Secretary of State whether to allow extradition or not. However, the person still holds a right to appeal in a higher court, right up to the Supreme Court.
With the clearing of first hurdle, Vijay Mallya arrested, Indian Government was hopeful that he shall be heading to India soon. On his arrest, Vijay Mallya tweeted “Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in Court started today as expected”
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