UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to embark on a state visit to India this week and while free trade agreement negotiations and the response to the war in Ukraine are likely to dominate bilateral talks, the pending extraditions of fugitive businessmen Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi are likely to be raised by the Indian side.
India had raised the issue in a virtual summit with the UK last year as well when Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted categorically that economic offenders should be sent back to face trial in India at the earliest.
Here’s all you need to know about the cases against Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi, and the status of their extradition proceedings:
Who are Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi?
Vijay Mallya: Once hailed as India’s version of British tycoon Richard Branson for his investments in a brewing and liquor company, an airline, a Formula One team and an Indian Premier League cricket club, Vijay Mallya ran into trouble when he failed to return millions in loans and left India in 2016 amid attempts by a group of banks to recover the money.
The failure of Kingfisher Airlines, which he launched in 2005, began Mallya’s slippery slide into debt and triggered the collapse of several of his businesses. The Indian government in 2012 suspended the airline’s licence after it failed to pay pilots and engineers for months.
Nirav Modi: The son of a diamond merchant, Nirav Modi built an international jewelry empire that stretched from India to New York and…
