© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
WITH THE United Kingdom declining India’s request to deport Vijay Mallya, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has requested Interpol to issue a Red Corner Notice against him in connection with its money laundering probe, official sources said on Thursday.
A Red Corner Notice is issued to arrest and extradite offenders to the country where they are wanted.
The ED has sent its request to the CBI, the nodal agency for Interpol-related affairs in India. The CBI is learnt to have processed ED’s request.
[related-post]
The UK government has informed India that it cannot deport Mallya as per British laws, but could consider an extradition request for him.
However, lawyers and senior officials of investigative agencies in India feel that it may not be easy for the ED to obtain a Red Corner Notice against Mallya. Most of them cited the case of former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi — the ED has not obtained a Red Corner Notice against him, despite moving the Interpol in August 2015.
According to a senior CBI official, Mallya can file an appeal with the Interpol commission against the notice. “The Interpol commissioner will have to hear Mallya before the agency issues a notice against him. All this is time consuming… Lalit Modi too has filed an appeal before the commissioner,” said the official.
If an extradition order is issued, Mallya can challenge it in a court in the UK, said a lawyer.
Mallya, chairman of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines, is alleged to have defaulted on bank loans of over Rs 9,400 crore. The company is under the scanner of multiple investigating agencies in the country.
