British Judicial system is independent of govt: UK Foreign Secy on extradition of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi
India and the UK had signed an extradition treaty in 1992. This was ratified the following year and has been in force since.
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London, Mar 1: Referring to the extradition of fugitive economic offenders Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on Wednesday (Mar 1) said that the British Judicial system is independent of the government and it is them to decide.
Without mentioning the names of fugitive economic offenders, Cleverly, who is currently in India to attend the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting, told ANI, "The legal process in the UK, just as it is in India, is independent of the government. We always want to see the machinery of the justice system working promptly but those are the decisions of the British Judicial system."
Vijay Mallya, chairman of Kingfisher Airlines, was ordered to be extradited by the British judiciary in 2019 and is yet to be sent to India. Similarly, diamantaire Nirav Modi has been held in custody at south London's Wandsworth prison since he was arrested in 2019. India and the UK had signed an extradition treaty in 1992. This was ratified the following year and has been in force since. Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi's plea to move the UK Supreme Court against his extradition to India on charges of fraud and money laundering was denied in December last year.
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He spoke on G 20, FTA , BBC documentary , extradition of Nirav Modi , Mallya and growing attacks by Khalistanis in UK and much more pic.twitter.com/t2Z6MIPDRT
Modi lost the bid to take his fight against extradition to India on charges of fraud and money laundering to the UK's Supreme Court. Nirav Modi, who is a prime accused in the Rs 13,500 crore PNB scam, had fled India. He lost his appeal after he had moved the High Court in London against extradition on mental health grounds. The bench of Justice Stuart Smith and Justice Robert Jay of the High Court said there are "no features of psychotic illness". The court rejected Nirav Modi's counsel's claims that he will die by suicide due to severe depression and said "Nirav Modi neither is nor is very likely to be at the most severe end of the scale of depressive illness".
Speaking on the attacks on Indians in the UK by Khalistani groups, he said that everyone in the UK, irrespective of their origin, has the right to live in peace and security. "We take the security of people very seriously, our police and security services always pay a close regard to such activities and if it is an illegal activity, we act upon it," Cleverly said, adding that he wanted to make it very clear to the Indians that the UK is a welcoming place for them.
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