London
Liquor baron Vijay Mallya was on Tuesday arrested by London police in the second money laundering case. However, he was later granted bail by the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London. This case of money laundering was filed by the Enforcement Directorate.
The case is being probed by the ED and the central probe agency has already filed a charge sheet against him and others in a Mumbai court. The CPS will be arguing the case against Mallya on behalf of the Indian government. Chief Magistrate Emma Louise Arbuthnot has been hearing Mallya’s extradition case at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on his previous arrest warrant executed by Scotland Yard in April.
Mallya’s trial, in that case, is scheduled for two weeks, starting December 4. It remains to be seen if both cases will be clubbed together, which may lead to a delay in the trial date.
Mallya, who owes over Rs 9,000 crore to various Indian banks, has been living in self-imposed exile in Britain since March 2016.
He was earlier arrested by Scotland Yard in April on fraud allegations, triggering an official extradition process in the British courts. He attended a central London police station for his arrest and was released on conditional bail a few hours later after providing a bail bond worth 650,000 pounds, assuring the court of abiding by all conditions associated with extradition proceedings, such as the surrender of his passport and a ban on him possessing any travel documents.
