Vijay Mallya Claims India More Concerned on Getting Him Extradited, Rather Than Recovering Money

London, December 15: Days after UK’s Westminster Court ordered fugitive tycoon Vijay Mallya's extradition to India to face fraud charges, the latter said that the Indian government is more concerned on getting him to the country rather than recovering the money.

Wanted in Rs 9,000 crores fraud from 17 banks, Mallya had previously stated that he is ready to pay the principal amount and it is not a ‘bogus’ report. With the court extradition order in place, Mallya has two weeks (approx.) to file an appeal against the order. Vijay Mallya's Extradition Ordered by UK's Westminster Court.

Now, with the situation in place, the business tycoon has stated that he would appeal in the high court and it is being considered with his legal team. On the issue of Indian banks yet to start recovering the money, he said, as reported by NDTV, “Obviously India is more focused on my presence in India than recovering public money.”

Speaking on the off-court settlements, Mallya said, “I have been making settlement offers since early 2016 even before the Supreme Court. The banks were instructed to reject every offer I made as the CBI and ED would not be able to accuse me. Today the ED and banks are fighting over my assets, and therefore I submitted my settlement offer before the Karnataka High Court so the court could sell my assets and pay employees banks and other creditors.”

Commenting on the Judge Emma Arbuthnot’s verdict, he stated that the observations were uncalled for and unfortunate.

Judge Emma in her observation had noted, “It is either a case that the various continuing failures were by design and with a motive (possibly financial) which is not clear from the evidence that has been put in front of me, or it is a case of a bank who were in the thrall of this glamorous, flashy, famous, bejewelled, bodyguarded, ostensibly billionaire playboy who charmed and cajoled these bankers into losing their common sense and persuading them to put their own rules and regulations to one side.”

On being asked about Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, Mallya refused to comment and said that does not know anything about their case. He was also of the opinion that the Indian government is making him the ‘poster boy’ of bank default cases. London Court Allows Sale of Six Posh Cars Owned by Vijay Mallya to Repay Indian Banks.

As per to the reports, MEA is in talks with the UK Home Office for the Home Secretary Sajid Javid, and is waiting for him to pass an extradition order based on the court’s verdict. According to the law, both sides (UK Home office and Vijay Mallya) will have the right to file for permission to appeal in the Chief Magistrate’s ruling in the UK High Court.

Sources reveal that a joint team of CBI and ED led by CBI Joint Director A Sai Manohar had left for the UK for court proceedings in London on India’s request seeking extradition of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 15, 2018 04:38 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).