No evidence that Mallya's extradition will deny him justice: London Judge

There was no "evidence" to suggest that Vijay Mallya, if extradited to India, was at "real risk of suffering a flagrant denial of justice," the Chief Magistrate of a court in London said, dismissing the liquor baron's plea.

The Westminster Magistrates Court's Chief Magistrate Judge Emma Arbuthnot also rejected the defence contention that judges in India are corrupt.

The Chief Magistrate went by the Indian government's assurances regarding the living conditions that Mallya would be provided in jail cell, saying it had no reason to believe that the assurances would be breached. Mallya is slated to be kept in the barrack no. 12 in Mumbai's Arthur Road jail.

"Extradition arrangements work on the basis of trust and any failure to abide by the assurances would doubtlessly affect the trust between this court and the GOI. I have no reason at all to think that the GOI would want to breach that trust," the Judge ruled.

She further dismissed suggestions that CBI courts are "too pliable" while dealing with CBI cases.

Judge Arbuthnot also rejected the defence's argument that the case was brought to "meet a political objective to quell public anger at the accumulation of bad debts by Indian state-owned banks"

"Dr Mallya's political involvement was of little significance in this case. It was his role as a businessman that was. I find that because both Congress and the BJP are blaming him and others for the state banks' losses that does not mean that he is being prosecuted for his political opinions, even in the wide sense of the word," Judge Arbuthnot said.

"In the light of the decisions outlined above I am sending Dr Mallya's case to the Home Secretary of State for a decision to be taken on whether to order his extradition," the Judge concluded.

Mallya is wanted in India for alleged loan default to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore for the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines.