New Delhi, Dec 11 :
Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya should be extradited from Britain to India to face fraud charges resulting from the collapse of his defunct Kingfisher Airlines, a London court ruled on Monday.
India wants to bring criminal action against Mallya, 62, whose business interests have ranged from aviation to liquor, over $1.4 billion in loans Kingfisher took out from Indian banks which the authorities argue he had no intention of repaying.
Mallya, who co-owned the Formula One motor racing team Force India until it went into administration in July, has denied any wrongdoing and says the case against him is politically motivated. He declined to make any comment as he left the court room on Monday. Judge Emma Arbuthnot, England’s chief magistrate, decided there was a prima facie case against Mallya, who moved to Britain in March 2016, and that his human rights would not be infringed if he were extradited. Her ruling must be approved by Britain’s interior minister. Arbuthnot said false representations had been made to the banks, which include state-owned IBDI, regarding what the loans would be used for and she ruled there was evidence of conspiracy to defraud the lenders and of money laundering.
The judge said there had been a catalogue of failings by the banks themselves to carry out proper checks and to ensure guarantees were viable.
But she said there was little evidence that senior IBDI officials themselves were involved in planning to d…
