Former Formula 1 team owner Vijay Mallya has lost a UK High Court appeal over his extradition to India.
Mallya co-owned the Force India outfit before it was sold to Lawrence Stroll and a consortium of Canadian investors in 2018 after it fell into administration when driver Sergio Perez forced a winding up order ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix – a move he said was aimed at protecting the future of the team.
This was an unexpected move and sports companies reacted to it immediately. There were websites offering promotion codes for F1 events for large bookies, but under the current circumstances, some of these websites have started showing interest in other sport events that are now more likely to be held. Fortunately Paddy Power has kept an eye on the F1 season and has a valid offer for it.
During that time Mallya was embroiled in a legal battle over his assets due to alleged financial misconduct and fraud charges related to his Kingfisher Airlines company, which collapsed in 2012 with debts of almost £1 billion.
Mallya, who resides in the UK permanently after his passport was revoked, has repeatedly denied the allegations, describing them as “ludicrous”, and offered to repay the loans, but Indian authorities have rejected his offer and insist he must face the Indian legal system and originally requested his extradition back in 2016.
He was arrested in 2017 by the British authorities and granted bail after submitting an appeal, though assets worth more than £1.2bn were frozen in January.
That appeal has been rejected meaning the 64-year-old now has 14 days to apply for permission to appeal to the UK’s Supreme Court, otherwise the case will be sent to UK Home Office for review and then if approved, it’s likely he will be sent to India within 28 days.
