Mallya's extradition not easy;banks should've taken his offer

The government on Sunday revoked Vijay Mallya’s passport. The liquor baron had fled last month to the UK and has not returned yet after multiple notices issued by the Enforcement Directorate.Calls for the liquor tycoon's deportation have grown ever since a probe intensified into Mallya's default of over Rs 900 crore IDBI Bank loan he had taken for his grounded Kingfisher Airlines.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, MP and Senior Advocate Majeed Memon said that Mallya cannot move to any other place now and if a red corner notice is issued then he will be stranded in London.

Extradition from the UK won’t be an easy process. In the past India was not able to extradite the likes of Iqbal Mirchi and Nadeem Shravan, Memon said.

The banks should have accepted the Rs 6,000-crore offered by Mallya as extradition is a time-consuming process and time will add interest to the already existing debt, he added.Below is the transcript of Majeed Memon’s interview with Latha Venkatesh and Sonia Shenoy on CNBC-TV18. Latha: When we last spoke, you said extradition is very difficult. But this is a different case. The passport has been revoked. Do you think that this will mean that he can be extradited? A: Revocation of passport is a preliminary step preceding request for extradition, because the man needs to be blocked somewhere. Now if passport has been revoked means he has been rendered immovable. He cannot proceed from there to any other country or choose to disappear from that place. Now after the red-corner notice is issued, after the non-bailable warrant and revocation of passport is a red-corner notice. And with the aid of Interpol, that red-corner notice and non-bailable warrant is executed and once the non-bailable warrant is executed, he would be subject to terms which would cancel his warrant and grant him bail which ordinarily happens. Then he would be stranded in a particular location and he will not be able to disappear from there. And then, the extradition request is made by a country to the country where the fugitive is found on making a request to hand over that person to face charges. Sonia: So, will India, at this point, need a bit more evidential support to present the case in front of the UK authorities or is the revocation of the passport and the non-bailable warrant good grounds to convince the British authorities? A: No, not at all. Issuance of non-bailable warrant or red-corner notice by itself does not satisfy a country where the man is holed up. To handover under extradition law, you have to convince the authorities there if the extradition is resisted and contested by the person which Mallya would do in all probability. In that event, that has to be satisfactory evidence with regard to the necessity to secure his bodily presence in India. And it is only then, that if the authorities there are satisfied, that a good ground exists to handover this man to face charges and those charges appear to be bona fide, only in that event, they would handover. And actually speaking, extradition from the UK is not very easy. The record shows that we were unable to secure the extradition request. We could not get it granted in case of music director Nadeem-Shravan. We could not get it done in case of even Iqbal Mirchi against whom there were drug charges. Against there was a murder charge. Now, this is a charge of evasion of tax, of non-payment of loan which the local authorities there will view according to their own judgement and assessment. So, it is not that easy and of course, Mallya is capable enough to contest it to the highest. Latha: That is what I was coming to. Two very quick questions. Can Vijay Mallya contest the revocation of passport as well. So, is the revocation not a done deal and two, does all this make it even more difficult for the banks to recover their money? That is exactly what business and markets and banks are interested in. A: Certainly. That is why I have been saying from day one, that it was better if we had accepted some kind of a reasonable offer from him. He had enhanced his offer from Rs 4,500 to Rs 6,000 crore, something like that. At least my personal feeling was that that ought to have been accepted. So, that that money would have at least come in and then we would have said that alright pay this money and take some more time, because time does not wait for anybody, time runs even otherwise. Now, a few months have passed since he has disappeared, now more than a month and therefore, now extradition by itself is time consuming. The extradition once contested before a magistrate in London and then thereafter, there is an appeal against that in the high court. Then there is the House of Lords up to which Nadeem’s case went. So, it consumed years. And therefore, every month or year that passes by, adds interest to huge money.