Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya will be extradited to India to face fraud investigations, a UK court has decided.
Mallya is wanted in India for alleged fraud and money laundering charges amounting to an estimated Rs 9,000 crores.
Delivering the verdict, Westminster Magistrates’ Court Chief Magistrate Judge Emma Arbuthnot said there was a prima facie case against Mallya and his human rights would not be infringed if he was extradited to India.
The judge's key word during the verdict was "misrepresentation".
She said 62-year-old Mallya misrepresented the state of the company and was not above using "round robin" methods to use the funds acquired for purposes other than specified to the banks.
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She said loans were obtained based on false documents and that banks had been fooled by ostensibly billionaire's flamboyant personality.
The judge also said that there was "no sign of a false case being mounted against him".
"Having considered evidence as a whole. There is a case to answer," Judge Arbuthnot said.
She referred the extradition case to Home Secretary of State Sajid Javid, who must also approve it.
In case Mallya's team does not file an appeal, and Secretary of State agrees with the magistrate's decision, then he must be extradited from the UK within 28 days of the Home Secretary's extradition order.
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In New Delhi, CBI spokesperson welcomed the verdict.
"We welcome the decision. We hope to bring him soon and conclude the case. The CBI has its own inherent strengths. We worked hard on this case. We are strong on law and facts and we were confident while perusing the extradition process," the spokesperson said.
Earlier during the day, Mallya sought to disprove the narrative that he has "stolen" money and said his offer to repay the principal amount to the Indian banks was "not bogus".
Mallya made the remarks while talking to reporters outside the Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
"My settlement offer is made before the Karnataka High Court. It is not related to this extradition trial. Nobody disrespects a court of law by making a bogus offer. The assets have been attached by the ED so they cannot be bogus assets," he had said, asserting that his offer to repay the principal amount was not bogus.
The embattled liquor tycoon said that the value of his assets is more than enough to pay everybody and that is exactly what he was focusing on.
"I want to disprove the narrative that I have stolen (money)," he said.
He said his legal team will review the judgment and take proper steps thereafter.
Mallya has contested his extradition on the grounds that the case against him is "politically motivated" and the loans he has been accused of defrauding on were sought to keep his now-defunct airline afloat.
"I did not borrow a single rupee. The borrower was Kingfisher Airlines. Money was lost due to a genuine and sad business failure. Being held as guarantor is not fraud," he said in his most recent Twitter post on the issue.
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"I have offered to repay 100 per cent of the principal amount to them. Please take it," he had tweeted earlier.
The trial, which opened at the Magistrates’ Court on December 4 last year, has gone through a series of hearings beyond the initial seven days earmarked for it.
(With inputs from PTI)
