Mumbai court issues extradition order against Vijay Mallya in service tax default case
The fugitive businessman had collected service tax from passengers of his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, however, he never gave the money to the department.
A Mumbai magisterial court on Friday issued a non-bailable warrant and an extradition order against former liquor baron Vijay Mallya in a service tax default case, reported PTI. Mallya owes more than Rs 100 crore to the service tax department, said lawyer Advait Sethna, who is representing the department in the case.
The court also issued a non-bailable warrant against Sanjay Agarwal, former chief executive officer of Mallya’s now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines. The court’s order can be executed by the concerned authorities because there is an extradition treaty between India and the United Kingdom, Sethna said.
Kingfisher Airlines had collected service tax from its passengers but did not deposit it with the department, Sethna added. The Service Tax departmnet had issued a notice to the airlines in 2011-2012 to settle dues over Rs 87 crore.
In January this year, a special Central Bureau of Investigation court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Mallya in a loan default case. In November 2016, Mallya was declared an absconder by a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act court. On November 8, 2016, India had asked the United Kingdom, where Mallya is beieved to be residing, to extradite the industrialist under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty as he owes around Rs 9,000 crore to 17 banks in India.
Mallya left the country on March 2 and has been in the United Kingdom since then. He had claimed that he was in “forced exile”.