London, May 15 (Bloomberg) – Former billionaire Vijay Mallya is one step closer to being forced to return to India to face fraud charges after a London court made further UK challenges to his extradition nearly impossible.
Two judges said on Thursday (May 14) that the fallen tycoon’s case raises no issues of public interest, all but ruling out an appeal to the UK Supreme Court. The 64-year-old Mallya, who’s on bail, has lost a series of court challenges since 2018.
Mallya, who’s known as the “King of Good Times” in India, was arrested in London in April 2017 after 17 banks accused him of willfully defaulting on more than 91 billion rupees (S$1.85 billion) in debt accumulated by Kingfisher Airlines – a full-service carrier he founded in 2005 and shut down seven years later. A willful defaulter refuses to repay loans despite having the means to do so.
His lawyer didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
