LONDON: 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.
CBI spokesperson welcoming the court order for extradition said, "We hope to bring him soon and conclude the case. CBI has its own inherent strengths. We worked hard on this case. We are strong on Law and facts and we were confident while pursuing extradition process."
The matter of extradition has been referred to the Secretary of State. Mallya though can move appeal to the European Court of Justice but will be extradited in 28 days if he loses the High Court appeal.
The UK court before ordering Mallya's extradition slammed him for misrepresentation of facts and also found him guilty of money laundering.
India wants to bring criminal action against Mallya, 62, whose business interests have ranged from aviation to liquor, over USD 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 all wrongdoing and argued the case against him was politically motivated.
(with inputs from Reuters)