New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has consistently raised the issue of the extradition of fugitives Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi in every India-UK trade-related meeting. The Indian government has exerted immense pressure on the UK government regarding the pending matter of their extradition.
According to the sources, UK delegations visiting India have encountered constant Indian pressure to repatriate Mallya and Nirav Modi. In a recent interview with a private English news station, senior counsel Harish Salve stated that the extradition processes against Mallya and Nirav Modi are the first topic PM Modi asks about during meetings. Salve went on to say that PM Modi has made it clear to the UK administration that they cannot be a trading partner and a safe haven for fugitives at the same time.
The British judiciary ordered Vijay Mallya, the chairman of Kingfisher Airlines, to be extradited in 2019, but he has yet to be deported to India. Similarly, diamantine Nirav Modi has been detained at Wandsworth jail in south London since his arrest in 2019.
India and the UK signed an extradition treaty in 1992, which was ratified the following year and has been in force since then. In December last year, Nirav Modi’s plea to move the UK Supreme Court against his extradition to India on charges of fraud and money laundering was denied. He lost the bid to take his fight against extradition to India on mental health grounds.
In March, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, without mentioning the names of the fugitive economic offenders, emphasised that the British judicial system is independent of the government and it is up to them to decide. Cleverly stated that, while it is ideal for the legal system to work quickly, the decision on extradition rests with the British judges.
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