Vijay Mallya’s extradition not possible until legal issue resolved: UK govt

Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, who is accused of cheating Indian banks to the tune of thousands of crores of rupees, will not be extradited anytime soon as there are legal issues involved, the UK govt said on Thursday.

Mallya is currently in the United Kingdom trying to evade extradition to India.

"Confidential legal issue needs to be resolved before Vijay Mallya's extradition can be arranged," said UK high commission spokesperson.

Mallya who founded the now-defunct Kingfisher airlines, fled to Britain in March 2016 after facing accusations of financial irregularities amounting to over Rs 9,000 crore. Mallya has consistently claimed that the charges he faces are baseless and fabricated and the Centre refused to take him up on his offer to clear his loans.

Mallya' extradition to India is based on a first information report filed by the CBI in July 2015 in connection with a Rs 900 crore loan sanctioned by IDBI Bank to KFA.

The Enforcement Directorate has charge sheeted Mallya in both cases, alleging that he diverted most of the money into foreign assets, the Indian Premier League (IPL) team and F1 motorsport firm Formula One. Mallya's assets worth Rs 13,000 crore have already been attached by ED.