New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday sought to know from the Centre regarding the details of the confidential proceedings pending in the United Kingdom for extradition of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya to India, asking when would Mallya appear before the Apex Court.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, on behalf of Centre, appraised the bench of Justices U U Lalit and Ashok Bhushan that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has raised the issue of extradition of Mallya with the UK government and the Centre is taking all serious efforts in this regard.
“Extradition cannot take place until a legal issue that needed to be resolved under United Kingdom law,” the SG submitted.
“In December 2020, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar raised the issue with UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and most recently in January 2021, the Home Secretary of India raised it with the UK Permanent Under Secretary of Home. UK’s response remained the same,” the SG said
The Centre had earlier also submitted before the top court that Mallya, the chairman of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines, cannot be extradited to the country until a separate “secret” legal process in the UK, which is “judicial and confidential in nature is resolved”.
The bench posted the matter for further hearing on March 15, after the SG sought some time to file status report in the matter.
