NEW DELHI: Absconding loan-defaulter Vijay Mallya on June 13 remained defiant and dismissed all charges against him as false as he arrived at a London court for an extradition hearing.
“I deny all allegations against me. I have not eluded the court, I have enough evidence to prove that I am not guilty,” Mallya told reporters outside the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London.
The 61-year-old former chief of Kingfisher airlines, who is wanted in connection to loan default case to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore, was appearing for his extradition case hearing based on a formal request made by India on February 8 this year.
The hearing on June 13 was referred to as a “case management hearing”, where the judge set a timetable to hear the arguments for and against Mallya’s extradition. The court granted the liquor baron bail till December 4 and set July 6 as the next hearing date for the case.
After coming out of the court, Mallya said it was his lawful duty to be there and that he will make his submission before the appropriate court. When asked about the “billion pounds” (Rs 9,000 crore approximately) he’s accused of fleecing, the business man replied, “You can keep dreaming about a billion pounds; you don’t know the facts so don’t ask irrelevant questions.”
Mallya has been in the UK since March 2016 and was arrested by Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant on April 18. He was quickly released after furnishing a bail bond worth 650,000 pounds and assuring the court of abiding by all conditions associated with extradition proceedings, such as the surrender of his passport and a ban on him possessing any travel documents.
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