Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Vijay Mallya arrives at UK High Court for extradition appeal

EMBATTLED liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya arrived at the UK High Court today (2) as he seeks permission to appeal against an extradition order signed off by UK home secretary Sajid Javid for him to be extradited to India to face alleged fraud and money laundering charges amounting to Rs 90 billion.

The 63-year-old former Kingfisher Airlines boss said he was feeling "positive" as he entered the Royal Courts of Justice here.


He has already lost a UK High Court "leave to appeal" on paper, leading to an oral hearing of his renewal application this week.

A two-judge bench of the Administrative Court division of the Royal Courts of Justice in London will hear the application, filed in April.

During the day-long hearing, listed before Justices George Leggatt and Andrew Popplewell, Mallya's legal team and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) – arguing on behalf of the Indian government – will go head to head to reiterate factors for and against the businessman's extradition to Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai.

The judges are likely to reserve their judgment in the case and hand down their ruling in the coming weeks.

In the scenario that Mallya is unsuccessful in his appeal, he must be extradited within 28 days from the appeal decision becoming final.

However, if he is granted permission to appeal, the case will then proceed to a full hearing stage at the UK High Court.

The appeal will mark one of the final stages of the appeals process, as the chances of permission to appeal to the Supreme Court are unlikely if such permission is already denied at the High Court stage.

"It is not for me to prejudge the outcome of the appeal, but he [Mallya] does face serious challenges in overturning the order for extradition,” said Toby Cadman, co-founder of Guernica 37 International Justice Chambers.

"The right to appeal against an extradition order is not straightforward. His defence will have to prove fairly strong grounds to convince the judges to grant an appeal," explained Cadman, a UK-based barrister who handles high-profile extradition cases.

An appeal to the UK's Supreme Court is quite a rare prospect in extradition cases such as this one, as Mallya's defence team would need to have a "point of law of general public importance" certified by the Administrative Court of the High Court.

There is a final recourse for Mallya to approach the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) based in Strasbourg, France, to argue against his extradition to India on human rights grounds by trying to prove a real threat of harm or torture or that he would not receive a fair trial.

"The likelihood of the ECHR intervening in a case such as this is slim indeed as the threshold is very high," said Cadman, who explained that the European court would take into account that the human rights-related arguments had already been taken into account at different levels during the UK court process and that India is a democratic country with an established rule of law.

Meanwhile, Mallya has continued to make a series of interventions on social media to offer “100 per cent payback” to state-owned Indian banks to cover his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines' debt.

He remains on bail on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard in April 2017, involving a bail bond worth £650,000 and other restrictions on his travel.

At the end of a year-long extradition trial at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London last December, Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot had found "clear evidence of dispersal and misapplication of the loan funds" and accepted a prima facie case of fraud and a conspiracy to launder money against Mallya, as presented by the CPS on behalf of the Indian government.

The court had also dismissed any bars to extradition on the grounds of the prison conditions under which the businessman would be held, as the judge accepted the Indian government's assurances that he would receive all necessary medical care at Barrack 12 in Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail.

(PTI)

More For You

Bangladesh seeks US deal to shield garment industry from tariffs

Workers are engaged at their sewing stations in a garment factory in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, on April 9, 2025. (Photo by MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Bangladesh seeks US deal to shield garment industry from tariffs

BANGLADESH, the world's second-biggest garment manufacturer, aims to strike a trade deal with the US before Donald Trump's punishing tariffs kick in next week, said the country's top commerce official.

Dhaka is proposing to buy Boeing planes and boost imports of US wheat, cotton and oil in a bid to reduce the trade deficit, which Trump used as the reason for imposing painful levies in his "Liberation Day" announcement.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK business district
The Canary Wharf business district including global financial institutions in London.
Getty Images

Bond yields ease following Starmer’s support for Reeves

THE COST of UK government borrowing fell on Thursday, partially reversing the rise seen after Chancellor Rachel Reeves became emotional during Prime Minister’s Questions.

The yield on 10-year government bonds dropped to 4.55 per cent, down from 4.61 per cent the previous day. The pound also recovered slightly to $1.3668 (around £1.00), though it did not regain all its earlier losses.

Keep ReadingShow less
modi-trump-getty
Modi shakes hands with Trump before a meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on February 25, 2020. (Photo: Getty Images)
Getty Images

Indian exporters watch closely as Trump says trade deal with India likely

THE US could reach a trade deal with India that would help American companies compete more easily in the Indian market and reduce tariff rates, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday. However, he cast doubt on a similar deal with Japan.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said he believed India was ready to lower trade barriers, potentially paving the way for an agreement that would avoid the 26 per cent tariff rate he had announced on April 2 and paused until July 9.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kolhapuri sandal sales surge in India post Prada controversy

Customers shop for 'Kolhapuri' sandals, an Indian ethnic footwear, at a store in New Delhi, India, June 27, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Kolhapuri sandal sales surge in India post Prada controversy

INDIAN footwear sellers and artisans are tapping into nationalist pride stoked by the Prada 'sandal scandal' in a bid to boost sales of ethnic slippers with history dating back to the 12th century, raising hopes of reviving a struggling craft.

Sales are surging over the past week for the 'Kolhapuri' sandals that have garnered global attention after Prada sparked a controversy by showcasing similar designs in Milan, without initially crediting the footwear's origins.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK business district
The Canary Wharf business district including global financial institutions in London.
Getty Images

Economy grew 0.7 per cent in Q1 2025, fastest in a year

THE UK economy expanded at its fastest pace in a year during the first quarter of 2025, driven by a rise in home purchases ahead of a tax deadline and higher manufacturing output before the introduction of new US import tariffs.

Gross domestic product rose by 0.7 per cent in the January-to-March period, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, confirming its earlier estimate. This was the strongest quarterly growth since the first quarter of 2024.

Keep ReadingShow less