Vijay Mallya Arrested

Business tycoon Vijay Mallya, accused of defaulting on loans worth crores, has been arrested in London and will be produced in a metropolitan court today. India had in February asked the UK to extradite Mallya, who is facing charges of money laundering and several arrest warrants in the country. CBI sources counted the arrest, which took place around 9.30 in the morning, as a big win in attempts to bring the liquor baron to justice.

Vijay Vittal Mallya

Vijay Vittal Mallya is an Indian businessman and politician. The son of businessman Vittal Mallya, he is the ex-chairman of United Spirits Ltd., the largest spirits company in India and continues to serve as Chairman of UB Group, an Indian conglomerate with interests in beverage alcohol, aviation infrastructure, real estate and fertiliser among others. He has been the Chairman of Sanofi India (previously known as Hoechst AG and Aventis) as well as the Chairman of Bayer CropScience in India for over 20 years, in addition to being the Chairman of several other companies.

Analysis

Last month, the UK told India that its request had been certified by the Secretary of State. Last week, a Delhi court put out an open-ended non-bailable warrant against the 61-year-old in a case of alleged violation of foreign exchange rules.

The flamboyant entrepreneur left India a year ago amid attempts by a group of banks to recover around Rs. 9,000 in loans to his collapsed Kingfisher Airlines.

New Delhi had cancelled Mallya's passport and asked the UK government to deport him to India.

Mallya has been charged with cheating and conspiracy by the CBI that filed a 1,000-page charge sheet against him for defaulting on a 900-crore loan taken from the IDBI bank in 2009. The CBI probe found that 250 crores of this - given to buy aircraft parts - was diverted abroad.

Assessment

While handing over the request, India had asserted that it has a "legitimate" case against Mallya and maintained that if an extradition request is honoured, it would show British "sensitivity towards our concerns".