ED seeks Interpol’s help in cornering Mallya

In a recent turn of events, the UK refused to entertain India' request for extraditing Vijay Mallya. The hunt for the liquor baron has spanned almost a month now, with no success to be seen on the horizon. But the ED is not giving up yet. The ED has now asked the help of international policing authority Interpol for getting Mallya back to the country. The ED has sought Interpol to issue an international warrant in the name of the accused in a bid to finally get hold of the “ king of good times” . India's move came a day after the government revealed that Britain has turned down a request to deport the former Rajya Sabha member who left the country in March owing more than Rs 9,000 crore in unpaid loans to several banks. However, Britain said it will consider a request for extradition. A Red Corner notice is issued for offenders who can be arrested and extradited to the country where they are wanted. But if recent events are to be believed and taken into account, the ED will find it very difficult to convince the Interpol to issue a Red Corner warrant for Mallya. Similar events took place back in 2012, when the issue was regarding Lalit Modi, in the IPL fiasco. But the issue, even after it was discussed with the Interpol, did not bear any results as such. At that time too, a Red Corner notice was the request of the Indian authorities for Lalit Modi. 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& hellip 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 extinct Kingfisher Airlines, is wanted in India in relation to a money laundering case amounting to more than 9400 crores. He owes the same to a consortium of public sector banks. He fled the country in March and the Indian authorities have been on the hunt ever since.

OUR TAKE

The king of good times is really having a pretty jolly time in the UK. Even after Indian authorities trying their best in an attempt to bring him back via UK's help, the help never came. Although disappointed, the ED has now made this move in an attempt to bring the importance of the matter to everyone's notice. But what is sad is that similar to cases such as that of Lalit Modi, the issue will be relevant only till the media reports it. Once the ink on the paper disappears, it is very difficult for the people of the country to remember such an incident even took place. This should not be the case.