The high court verdict in April upheld the 2018 ruling by Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot at the end of a year-long extradition trial that the former Kingfisher Airlines boss had a "case to answer" in the Indian courts.
A UK Judge on Friday stated that the ruling in fugitive diamond dealer Nirav Modi extradition case will be made on February 25. The extradition trial of Nirav Modi has concluded today at Westminster Magistrates' court in London. District judge Samuel Goozee confirmed the timeline. Nirav Modi, who is wanted in India for allegedly defrauding Punjab National Bank (PNB) of an estimated $2 billion, was re-remanded on December 1 by a judge at Westminster Magistrate Court in London.
Friday's hearing is expected to be presided over by Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot, the same judge who had ordered the extradition of former Kingfisher Airlines boss Vijay Mallya last December.
Delivering the verdict, Westminster Magistrates' Court Chief Magistrate Judge Emma Arbuthnot said that there was "no sign of a false case being mounted against him".
He is believed to have been living in the UK on an Investor Visa, applied for in 2015
The judge also asked the Indian government to provide within 14 days the information on which prison he will be held at.
The high court permitted Mallya to appeal on only one limited ground to be able to address the admissibility of some evidence and interpretations made by the lower court.
A spokesperson in the UK high commission said the issue is "confidential" and added: "We cannot estimate how long this issue will take to resolve." "Vijay Mallya last month lost his appeal against extradition, and was refused leave to appeal further to the UK Supreme Court. However, there is a further legal issue that needs resolving before Mr Mallya's extradition can be arranged," the spokesperson said.
Judge said that she was not persuaded by the argument from Assange's legal team that it was not in the public interest to pursue him for skipping bail.
He is set to be produced from custody before Judge Emma Arbuthnot for the first management hearing in the case, during which a broad timeline is expected for his extradition trial.
His legal team, led by solicitor Anand Doobay, have previously offered one million pounds as security alongside an offer to meet stringent electronic tag restrictions on their client's movements, "akin to house arrest".
Embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya on Monday lost his high court appeal against his extradition order to India in relation to charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to an alleged Rs 9,000 crores.
Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London concluded that she remains unconvinced that he would not interfere with witnesses or fail to surrender before the court for his trial in May 2020.
Noting the urgency and desire on the part of India to extradite people accused of corruption, the UK on Friday said a "legal process" is on in Vijay Mallya's matter and it has to be followed through as there cannot be any shortcut. In May last year, the fugitive businessman lost his appeals in the British Supreme Court against his extradition to India to face money laundering and fraud charges. Asked when can Mallya be extradited to India and if some kind of legal issue is still pending in the matter, new British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis, without pointing to any particular case, said he recognises the urgency, importance and the desire to get back people who are accused of corruption to India.
He claims that his offer to pay back the debt owed by his now-defunct airline had been rebuffed by the banks and the Indian government.
Mallya now has 14 days from February 4 to apply for leave to appeal to the UK high court.
The 48-year-old, who has been lodged at Wandsworth prison in south-west London, appeared via videolink from prison before district judge David Robinson. "I am told that your case is proceeding in accordance with the directions for a final hearing on 11 May," the judge told Modi, as he set the next 28-day remand hearing via videolink for February 27. Modi's extradition trial is scheduled for five days starting May 11, with the case management hearings in the case set to begin once all the evidence has been handed in to the court for the trial.
Mallya has an automatic right to appeal in the UK High Court against the Chief Magistrate's order but is yet to confirm if he plans to do that.
Nirav Modi, wanted in connection with the estimated $2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case, was further remanded in custody on Tuesday by a court in London hearing India's extradition request for the diamond merchant. The 49-year-old appeared on Tuesday via videolink from Wandsworth Prison in south-west London, dressed in a maroon sweater and sporting a full beard, for his regular 28-day "call-over hearing" at Westminster Magistrates' Court, where Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot extended his remand for another 28 days until December 29.
Modi's defence team doubled the bail security to 2 million pounds and offered he would stay on 24-hour curfew at his London flat.
The case will now be listed in the coming weeks for a hearing before a judge, where Mallya's legal team and the Crown Prosecution Service will go to reiterate factors for and against the businessman's extradition to Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai.
The UK Crown Prosecution Service said Mallya's appeal to certify a point of law was rejected on all three counts, of hearing oral submissions, grant a certificate on the questions as drafted, and grant permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The 63-year-old former Kingfisher Airlines boss, an avid cricket fan, is wanted in India on fraud and money laundering charges amounting to an alleged Rs 9,000 crores.
On July 2, Mallya's legal team and the Crown Prosecution Service - arguing on behalf of the Indian government - will go head to head to reiterate factors for and against the businessman's extradition to Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai.
He appeared via videolink from the prison as his legal team offered a package of "stringent" bail measures, including bail security of 4 million pound, house arrest with a 24-hour electronic tag as well as a private security guard service and a strictly monitored access to gadgets and telephones.
A key defence to disprove a prima facie case of fraud and misrepresentation on Mallya's part has revolved around the fact that Kingfisher Airlines was the victim of economic misfortune alongside other Indian airlines.
Mallya's barrister, Clare Montgomery, reiterated the central defence that there had been no misrepresentation or fraud on the part of her client and that Kingfisher Airlines was the victim of economic misfortune alongside other airlines.
The European Arrest Warrant on rape charges against Assange was lifted in May last year but Scotland Yard had confirmed a British arrest warrant dating from 2012 remains in place, which they were obliged to execute should the campaigner step out of the embassy.
Modi appeared for his regular 28-day "call-over" appearance from London's Wandsworth prison at Westminster magistrates' court, where judge Gareth Branston reconfirmed that his extradition trial will begin on May 11 next year and will last five days.
Embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya claimed on Sunday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement in a recent interview confirming the recovery of Rs 14,000 crore worth of his assets has fully vindicated him in his assertion of being a "poster boy" for the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government.
The central government has already conducted an assessment of security cover given to prisoners in the Arthur Road Jail and its findings conveyed to the UK court.
Besides the passports, Modi also possesses multiple residency cards, some of them expired, but covering countries/regions such as the UAE, Singapore and Hong Kong.
While in custody and until the first hearing in his extradition case next week, Modi is likely to be held in a separate cell but may also have to share a cell with other prisoners given the overcrowding pressures.
In a ruling in May, a UK high court judge had refused to overturn a worldwide order freezing Mallya's assets and upheld an Indian court's ruling that the consortium of 13 Indian banks were entitled to recover funds amounting to nearly 1.145 billion pounds.
In her judgment handed down at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Justice Ingrid Simler concluded there were "substantial grounds" to believe that Modi would fail to surrender as he does possess the means to "abscond".
An extradition expert in the UK said the strict social distancing norms in place to try and curb the spread of COVID-19 may add a further dimension to the UK's Article 3 obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, relating to inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.
The trial, which opened at the London court on December 4, is aimed at laying out a prima facie case of fraud against the 61-year-old embattled businessman, who has been based in the UK since March 2016.
The judge confirmed that the bulk of the evidence submitted by the Indian authorities will be admissible
The leave to appeal to the Supreme Court is on a point of law of general public importance, which according to experts is a very high threshold that is not often met.
He has been lodged at Wandsworth prison in south-west London since his arrest in March in connection with the nearly $2 billion Punjab National Bank fraud and money laundering case.
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