Extradition: Mallya loses leave to appeal

London, May 14: In a major setback, embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Thursday lost his application seeking leave to appeal in the UK Supreme Court, weeks after the London High Court rejected his appeal against an extradition order to India on charges of fraud and money laundering related to unrecovered loans to his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines. The 64-year-old businessman had 14 days to file this application to seek permission to move the higher court on the High Court judgment from April 20, which dismissed his appeal against a Westminster Magistrates’ Court extradition order certified by the UK Home Secretary.

The ruling will now go back for re-certification and the process of extradition should be triggered within 28 days. The UK Crown Prosecution Service said his appeal to certify a point of law was rejected on all three counts, of hearing oral submissions, grant a certificate on questions as drafted, and grant permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The government of India’s response to the appeal application was submitted earlier this week. The leave to appeal to the Supreme Court is on a point of law of public importance that according to experts is a very high threshold not often met.

Mallya can also apply to the European Court of Human Rights to prevent his extradition on the basis that he will not receive a fair trial and that he will be detained in conditions that breach Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, to which the UK is a signatory. There is very limited chance of success because he would also have to show that his arguments on those grounds before the UK courts have been earlier rejected.