London : Vijay Mallya, the Indian tycoon who was nicknamed the” King of Good Times” can be extradited to India to face a fraud trial, a London court ruled on Monday.
Emma Arbuthnot, chief magistrate at Westminster magistrates’ court, ordered extradition after finding there was a case to answer in India on the fraud allegations.
Mr Mallya has fought the Indian government’s attempt to extradite him to face a number of criminal charges linked to the 2012 collapse of Kingfisher Airlines connected to the alleged diversion of funds from bank loans including the state-owned IDBI Bank.
He alleges he is the victim of a high profile “witch hunt” by Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.
Though Mr Mallya has the right to appeal against the decision, the ruling is a major victory for Mr Modi’s government, which has fought for the last two years to secure the erstwhile liquor baron’s extradition to India as part of its declared war on the “crony capitalism” of predecessors.
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