Vijay Mallya arrives in court for extradition case; says his offer to banks 'not bogus'
London, Dec 10 : A defiant Vijay Mallya, wanted in India on alleged fraud and money laundering charges amounting to an estimated Rs 9,000 crores, Monday 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 which is expected to deliver its verdict on his extradition after a year-long trial. The 62-year-old former Kingfisher Airlines boss has been on bail since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April last year.
Chief Magistrate Judge Emma Arbuthnot is expected to give her verdict on whether Mallya can be extradited to India to stand trial on the charges brought by the CBI and ED.
The decision would then go to the UK Home Office for the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, to pass an order based on that verdict. Both sides will have the right to file for a permission to appeal in the Chief Magistrate's ruling in the UK High 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 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.
"I have offered to repay 100 per cent of the principal amount to them. Please take it," he had tweeted earlier.
While dismissing that his intervention had anything to do with the extradition case, it came just days before Judge Emma Arbuthnot is expected to present her ruling in the case.
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.
It opened with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) team, led by Mark Summers, laying out the Indian government's prima facie case of fraud and money laundering against Mallya.
Summers sought to establish a "blueprint of dishonesty" against the businessman and that there are no bars to his extradition on human rights grounds.
Mallya's defence team, led by Clare Montgomery, deposed a series of experts in an attempt to prove that the erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines' alleged default of bank loans was the result of business failure rather than "dishonest" and "fraudulent" activity by its owner.
The court was also told that a consortium of Indian banks, led by State Bank of India (SBI), had rejected an offer by the liquor baron in early 2016 to pay back nearly 80 per cent of the principal loan amount owed to them.
While the CPS argued that Mallya never intended to repay the loans he sought in the first place because his airline's demise was inevitable, the defence tried to establish that Kingfisher Airlines was suffering from consequences of a wider global financial crisis around 2009-2010 and that its failure was a result of factors beyond the company's control.
"There are clear signs that the banks seem to have gone against their own guidelines [in sanctioning some of the loans]," Judge Arbuthnot had noted during the course of the trial.
In relation to the defence's attempts to dispute Indian prison conditions as a bar to Mallya's extradition on human rights grounds, the judge had indicated to the CPS that she did not require any further information in reference to the prison conditions awaiting Mallya at Barrack 12 of Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail after seeking a video of the cell.
"If the judge is satisfied that all of the procedural requirements are met, and that none of the statutory bars to extradition apply, he or she must send the case to the Secretary of State for a decision to be taken on whether to order extradition," explains Pavani Reddy, a UK-based legal expert and Managing Partner of Zaiwalla & Co.
The judge's decision on whether to send Mallya's case to UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid can be appealed with the UK High Court's permission, with the person to be extradited entitled to make an application for permission to appeal to the High Court within 14 days of the date of the Chief Magistrate's ruling.
On the other hand, the Indian government would also have 14 days to file leave to appeal to the High Court, seeking permission to appeal against a decision not to extradite.
"In case the concerned individual does not file an appeal, and Secretary of State agrees with the magistrate's decision, then the individual must be extradited from the UK within 28 days of the Home Secretary's extradition order.
"This will also apply if an appeal lodged by either party in the High Court is unsuccessful, but the 28 days will commence from the date when the appeal hearing was concluded," said Reddy.
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India needs steady hand at the wheel but has 'compromised PM': Rahul
New Delhi (PTI): A day after a US submarine torpedoed and sank an Iranian warship in international waters off Sri Lanka's coast, the Congress on Thursday questioned the government's silence with Rahul Gandhi saying that while the country needed a steady hand at the wheel, it has a "compromised PM who has surrendered our strategic autonomy".
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the Modi government's "reckless abdication" of India's strategic and national interests is there for all to see.
"An Iranian ship, a guest of India was returning, unarmed from the International Fleet Review 2026, hosted by us, and was torpedoed in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). No statement of concern or condolence. PM Modi remains mute," Kharge said on X.
"Why lecture us on the doctrines of MAHASAGAR and India being a 'Net Security Provider' in the IOR, when you can’t react on what is happening in your own backyard? As many as 38 Indian Flag commercial ships along with 1100 sailors are stuck in Gulf of Hormuz," he said.
"Indian sailors, including Captain Ashish Kumar have reportedly died. Why is there no maritime rescue or relief operation in place? You say only 25 days of crude and oil stocks left. With rising oil prices, what is our energy contingency plan, especially in the wake of GOI virtually accepting the demand to stop import of Russian oil? What about the trade of other key commodities with the gulf countries?" the Congress chief said.
As per MEA statement on March 3, "some Indian nationals have lost their lives or are missing", he said.
"There are one crore Indians in the gulf region countries. Medical students are releasing desperate video messages seeking help. How is the GOI securing their well-being? Is there any evacuation plan in place from the affected areas?" Kharge said.
"Clearly, Modi Ji's SURRENDER is both political and moral! It demeans India’s core national interests and destroys our foreign policy carefully and painstakingly built and followed by successive governments over the years!" Kharge said.
Gandhi said the world has entered a volatile phase and "stormy seas lie ahead"
"India's oil supplies are under threat, with more than 40% of our imports transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The situation is even worse for LPG and LNG," he said on X.
"The conflict has reached our backyard, with an Iranian warship sunk in the Indian Ocean. Yet the Prime Minister has said nothing," Gandhi said.
At a moment like this, India needs a steady hand at the wheel, he said.
"Instead, India has a compromised PM who has surrendered our strategic autonomy," Gandhi alleged.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh also said maybe it should not be surprising since the Modi government has still not broken its silence over the targeted assassinations in Iran.
In a significant escalation of the West Asia crisis, a US submarine on Wednesday torpedoed and sank an Iranian warship in international waters off Sri Lanka's coast when it was returning after participating in the Milan naval exercise, a multilateral wargame hosted by India.
In a post on X, Ramesh said the Indian Navy's flagship multilateral exercise, MILAN, was first held in 1995 and the 13th edition was held in Visakhapatnam from February 19 to February 25, 2026 with 18 warships from other countries, including the USA and Iran participating.
The exercise was inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Ramesh pointed out.
"This makes yesterday's sinking of the Iranian warship that took part in the Milan exercise by a US Navy submarine in the Indian Ocean some 40 nautical miles south of Galle in Sri Lanka all the more extraordinary. The Iranian warship was on its way back home," he said.
This US action has enormous implications for India as well and it is shocking that there has been no official response to it till now, Ramesh said.
"Maybe it should not be surprising since the Modi government has still not broken its silence over the targeted assassinations in Iran. Never before has the Indian government looked so timid and fearful," the Congress leader said.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, confirming the strike, said at a Pentagon media briefing that it was the first sinking of an enemy warship by a torpedo since World War II.
The Associated Press, quoting the Sri Lankan Navy, reported that 87 bodies were recovered and that 32 people were rescued following the sinking of the warship IRIS Dena.
The incident marks a major escalation of the conflict between the US and Iran outside of the Persian Gulf and throws up questions relating to maritime security in the Indian Ocean that is largely considered as the backyard of the Indian Navy.
The US and Israel launched military strikes on Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Following the military offensive, Iran has carried out a wave of attacks mainly targeting Israel and American military bases in several Gulf countries, including the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
In the last few days, the conflict has widened significantly with attacks and counter-attacks by both sides.
India has called for resolving the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy.
