Businessman Vijay Mallya on Thursday filed his application in the United Kingdom High Court seeking permission to appeal against an extradition order signed by the government’s Home Secretary, PTI reported.

Mallya is fighting a number of lawsuits in UK and India related to fraud and money laundering allegations. He fled India and moved to London in March 2016, but a court there ordered his extradition to India in December 2018. The UK signed an order to extradite him on February 4. Mallya is currently on bail on an extradition warrant.

Mallya had already made clear his intention to appeal against the extradition. The 63-year-old filed his application in the Administrative Court division of the High Court 10 days after Home Secretary Sajid Javid signed the extradition order, giving him a 14-day window to move an appeal.

“The application has been sent for a judge on papers decision, which is expected any time between two and four weeks,” said an unidentified court representative. A “judge on papers” decision will involve a High Court judge determining the merits of the application. If it is accepted, the case will proceed to a “substantive hearing” in the next few months’ time. Else, Mallya will have the option to submit a “renewal form”.

The renewal process will lead to a 30-minute oral hearing, during which Mallya’s legal team and the Crown Prosecution Service, appearing on behalf of the Indian government, will renew their respective claims for and against an appeal for a judge to determine if it can proceed to a full hearing. The process, to be heard in the Royal Courts of Justice in London, could take months.

After the High Court result, both sides can apply for the right to appeal to the Supreme Court, which would involve at least another six weeks.

On January 5, a special court in Mumbai declared Mallya a fugitive economic offender. He was the first person to get the tag after Parliament passed the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act last year to allow the seizure of domestic assets of such individuals.