The Centre told the Supreme Court that the extradition order to bring liquor baron Vijay Mallya back to the country has not been come into effect, and it was unaware of any "secret" proceedings that were delaying the process. The bench directed Mallya’s lawyers to apprise it by November 2 for when he can appear before court, and when the proceedings were going to end.
A bench consisting of Justices UU Lalit and Ashok Bhushan asked Mallya’s lawyer to inform the court what kind of "secret" proceedings are going on to delay his extradition, according to a PTI report.
Ankur Singhal, representing Mallya, told the Supreme Court that he was unaware of such plans. "I have knowledge that my request against extradition has been rejected", the report quoted him saying.
Rajat Nair, appearing for the Centre, told the court that the extradition request to the UK had been made as per its direction. "Some secret extradition proceedings are going on to which we are not a party, " he said, according to the report.
Earlier, the apex court told Mallya to appear before it on October 5 while dismissing his plea seeking review of the 2017 verdict which held him guilty of contempt for transferring $40 million to his children in violations of court orders.
In fact, Mallya in May asked the government to accept his offer to repay 100 percent of his loan dues and close the case against him.
However, the liquor baron lost his application to seek leave to appeal his extradition to India in the UK Supreme Court in May, setting a 28-day clock on his removal from the UK.
The UK top court’s decision marked a big legal setback to the 64-year-old flamboyant businessman, who had earlier lost his high court appeal against an extradition order to India on charges of alleged fraud and money laundering related to unrecovered loans to his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, PTI said.
Mallya continues to be based in the UK since March 2016 and remains on bail for an extradition warrant executed three years ago by Scotland Yard on April 18, 2017.
-- With inputs from PTI.
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