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India has requested the United Kingdom not to consider giving asylum to fugitive economic offender Vijay Mallya.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava told the media at a virtual briefing that India has been in touch with the UK authorities for early extradition of Mallya.
“We have been in touch with the UK authorities for the early extradition of Vijay Mallya. We have also requested the UK side not to consider his asylum if requested by him,” he said.
According to The Guardian, Mallya, the fugitive business tycoon, has applied for asylum in the United Kingdom.
Seeking asylum is seen the last-ditch attempt by Mallya to evade extradition to India.
The government has been in touch with the UK for extraditing the fugitive businessman, who was refused permission in May to appeal to UK’s highest court against a ruling to extradite him to face charges of defrauding a consortium of Indian banks of more than Rs 11,000 crore.
Mallya, the self-proclaimed ‘King of Good times’, faces charges of defrauding Indian banks relating to the collapse of Kingfisher Airlines in 2012. Britain had said earlier this month that there is a further legal issue that needs to be resolved before Mallya’s extradition can be arranged.
According to the report published in The Guardian, Mallya is understood to have sought asylum in the UK under Article 3 of the European convention on human rights, which prohibits “inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.
