Mallya Granted Bail After Money Laundering Charge Related To India F-1 Team
Mallya will be produced at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court at 2 pm (London time) today.
Mallya Granted Bail After Brief Arrest
Vijay Mallya was granted bail today after a brief arrest following supplemental money laundering charges brought by the government of India.
This new money laundering charge and the evidence in support has been joined to the original fraud charges against Mallya in the Rs 900-crore IDBI Bank-Kingfisher Airlines bank loan case.
“The new charge is essentially showing where the money went to, for example, it is alleged that some of the funds ended up with the Force India racing team,” the U.K. Crown Prosecution Service told BloombergQuint in an emailed statement.
Essentially, the Indian government has alleged that the funds which Mallya obtained through loans to Kingfisher airlines, were channeled into his Force India Formula 1 team.
Explaining the rationale for Mallya’s second arrest in five months, the CPS statement said, “As the new charge of money laundering effectively joined up with the existing fraud charges, the legal process included re-certification of the extradition request by the Home Office and a rearrest of Mallya.”
Mallya is also undergoing trial and is currently out on bail in another case in which he was arrested in April following the Indian government’s extradition request. That hearing is scheduled for December 4 at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and is estimated to last eight days,” the CPS statement said. India had made an extradition request in February to Britain to send back the businessman to face trial.
Next Mallya Hearing Scheduled For November 20
Mallya’s arrest today is linked a new money laundering charge in a London court and one of the allegations relates to the Force India Formula 1 racing team, Bloomberg reported quoting prosecutor Mark Summers.
The new charge is concerned with “destination of funds”, Mallya’s lawyer said, Bloomberg further reported.
The next hearing in the matter has been scheduled for November 20.
Mallya Arrested: Follow The Coverage Here
Government Playing To The Gallery?
The Indian government’s handling of the Mallya case is essentially for the “sake of showing that something has been undertaken, rather than pursuing something with the right intent,” Senior Supreme Court Advocate Aman Lekhi said.
If the government was serious about this issue, the purpose should have been his actual arrest. And if he is going to get bail, as we are predicting, as everyone is saying, this entire exercise is one in futility.Aman Lekhi, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court
The legal process in the U.K. courts will have to be exhausted before India takes any meaningful steps in that regard to get him back, Lekhi added.
Not An Extraditable Offense, Says Satish Maneshinde
Criminal lawyer Satish Maneshinde argued that what Mallya has been arrested for is not an “extraditable offense”.
First of all, this is not an extraditable offense. He was vindictively treated by the banks. There are hundreds of people who owe thousands of crore more than Mallya to the banks. They have siphoned out more money for personal deeds. As far as Mallya is concerned, there is no evidence as of now, which is before any court of law, that any amount which goes to him, has been diverted for his personal cause.Satish Maneshinde, Criminal Lawyer
Maneshinde had earlier told BloombergQuint that Mallya is a “victim of circumstances”.
Procedural Arrest, Says Harish Salve
Senior lawyer Harish Salve told BloombergQuint that the arrest is largely procedural, and that getting a bail in the U.K. is not as controversial as in India. He added that there may be now two parallel extradition cases against Mallya.
What I assume is there was a case which has been filed against IDBI, and in which the former managing director of IDBI was arrested with a few officials. And one dimension of this was the allegations of money laundering.Harish Salve, Senior Advocate
So, ultimately this is a matter of procedure; the two will be heard together, possibly because they are overlapping. Technically they are two cases, but they may be heard side by side. The process will be the same as in India. You first have to surrender to the police, so the police would have had formally arrested you. And upon arrest, you will be produced to the magistrate’s court. And as on the last case, will be released on bail.Harish Salve, Senior Advocate
Mallya Arrested For Second Time In 5 Months
Embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya has been arrested in London in connection with the Enforcement Directorate’s money laundering probe into the Rs 900-crore IDBI Bank-Kingfisher Airlines bank loan case.
He will be produced at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court at 2 pm (London time) today, the U.K.'s Crown Prosecution Service told BloombergQuint. He’s likely to get bail, they added.
Mallya is undergoing trial and is currently out on bail in another case in which he was arrested in April following the Indian government’s extradition request.
He has been staying in London for over a year now after leaving India on March 2 last year, in the middle of attempts by a group of banks to recover more than Rs 9,000 crore loaned to him for his now collapsed Kingfisher Airlines.
India had made an extradition request in February to Britain to send back the businessman to face trial.