India has sent additional documents pertaining to Vijay Mallya’s extradition case to the United Kingdom Government, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Gopal Baglay said on Friday..
“The Government has submitted a fresh set of relevant papers to the British High Commission here last week and sent soft copies, electronically, to Indian Mission in the UK,” Baglay said.
A Westminster Court is hearing the extradition request by India against fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya who is accused of money laundering by Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation. However, during a hearing on the case recently, a British judge commented on the slow pace of submission of documents by the Indian authorities.
“Are Indians normally very prompt in their responsesIJ They have taken six months so far and we haven’t got any further forward in the past six weeks,” chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot of Westminster Magistrates’ Court was reported to have said on Wednesday during the hearing of Mallya’s case.
Defending India’s position, Baglay said fresh documents were submitted last week through diplomatic channels. He, however, said he was not sure whether the papers were already with the magistrate.
Mallya, who is wanted in India for his Kingfisher Airlines defaulting on loans worth nearly Rs 9,000 crore, has been in the UK since March 2016. He was arrested by the Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant on April 18. He was released on conditional bail a few hours later, after he provided a bail bond worth 6,50,000 pounds and assured the court of abiding by all conditions associated with extradition proceedings such as the surrender of his passport and a ban on him possessing any travel document.