India on Thursday, 11 June, said they have been in touch with the UK authorities for the early extradition of business tycoon Vijay Mallya.
"We have also requested the UK side not to consider his asylum, if requested by him," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava was quoted by ANI as saying.
This comes days after the British High Commission said that Vijay Mallya cannot be extradited from the United Kingdom before a "legal issue" is resolved.
“Mallya, last month, lost his appeal against extradition and was refused permission to appeal to the United Kingdom's Supreme Court. However, there is a further legal issue that needs to be resolved before Mallya's extradition can be arranged," the High Commission spokesperson had reportedly said, although the details of what the issue was were not divulged.
On 14 May, the UK High Court had rejected Mallya's plea seeking permission to file an appeal in the Supreme Court in London.
According to UK’s Extradition Act, an individual has to be extradited with 28 days of an order by a high court or supreme court. However, if he makes an asylum claim, which is to stay in UK as a refugee, then he cannot be extradited till the claim is settled.
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