Out of legal options, Vijay Mallya may seek asylum in UK

Mumbai: Beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya is understood to have recently filed an application seeking political asylum in the UK, said top legal sources close to the development. His team of lawyers had been working on the asylum route as a last resort, if his appeal challenging the extradition proceedings were rejected, said legal sources in the UK.

These sources further added that the request for asylum has already been sent to the office of UK home secretary Priti Patel. On May 14, the UK High court — which had ruled in April that Mallya could be extradited to India — declined to grant him leave to approach the Supreme Court. It’s not clear if the asylum request was filed before or after that date. “At this point we can only confirm he has moved the UK home secretary’s office seeking political asylum,” said a legal expert privy to the development. Mallya did not respond to an email from ET. Emails sent to Patel and her office remained unanswered till press time Tuesday.

Sources close to Mallya, however, confirmed the development. According to sources, this is one of the two legal remedies available before the beleaguered businessman, whose pleas to challenge the December 2018 extradition order issued by a Westminster Magistrates’ Court have been unsuccessful. The asylum process involves multiple appeals and can help Mallya delay the extradition by a few months or longer, experts said.

“If the asylum request is refused by the home secretary, Mallya has the right to challenge the decision before a tribunal and then there will be an appeals process. This could easily take 18 months to two years,” said a senior UKbased lawyer. “This is a classic delaying tactic employed by Mallya and his team. It’s a smart legal move to buy time, and could further delay the attempts by Indian authorities to bring the fugitive businessman to justice,” a source privy to the development told ET.

OTHER OPTION
Besides the asylum request, Mallya has the option of approaching the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). “The other option was to appeal before the ECHR claiming that he would not receive a fair trial back home. Although the UK is a signatory, the home secretary could overlook this while signing Mallya’s extradition order if Indian agencies are able to convince her that the said issue has been dealt in detail during the course of the trial. India could also mention that courts in the UK are satisfied on the specific issue of human rights violation,” added the source.

Indian agencies had provided a detailed video recording of Barrack 12 at Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail where Mallya is likely to be detained, after the businessman alleged the barrack had no access to natural sunlight or ventilation. “However, Mallya has the option of approaching the ECHR before the extradition request is signed by the UK home office,” said the source.