ED, CBI continued to battle for extradition of Mallya, Nirav

By Anand Singh New Delhi, Dec 29 : Even as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) moved further in several high-profile cases, both central agencies remained entangled in a legal battle for the extradition of now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines’ founder Vijay Mallya and fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi.
The CBI and the ED made progress in several cases like the ICICI-Videocon loan case involving former bank Chair and Managing Director Chanda Kochhar, and Yes Bank scam case involving its founder Rana Kapoor.
Supplementary charge sheet was filed in the Rs 3,600-crore VVIP AgustaWestland chopper case, a fresh charge sheet in corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar’s case and the 2013 railway bribery scam allegedly involving then Railway Minister and senior Congress leader Pawan Bansal’s nephew Vijay Singla.
The CBI and ED, which are fighting the legal battle in the United Kingdom for the extradition of Mallya, were sure about his extradition after he lost an appeal in the Supreme Court on May 14.
Mallya, who is wanted in India for Rs 9,000-crore loan defraud, had approached the UK High Court which dismissed his appeal against extradition on April 20.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in an affidavit informed the Supreme Court of India that following the refusal of leave to appeal to Mallya, his extradition to India should, in principle, have been completed within 28 days. However, the UK Home Office intimated that there is further legal issue involved, which needs to be resolved before the extradition takes place.