Vijay Mallya Can't Be Extradited Until 'Secret Legal' Matter Is Resolved: UK Tells India

The United Kingdom has informed India that fugitive economic offender Vijay Mallya will not be extradited until the ongoing "secret legal" case is resolved in the former country's court, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

"Now, we have been told that there is a secret legal matter and that his extradition cannot take place without its resolution... We are in touch with the UK government," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said at a media briefing.

Mallya, in May this year, lost his appeal against extradition in Britain's Supreme Court. India has been pushing the UK authorities ever since to hand him over so that he can be tried for money laundering and fraud charges.

Srivastava also said that the Indian government was in constant touch with the British administration since May verdict which left Mallya with no legal option available, news agency PTI reported.

The special bench of the SC, comprising of Justice U U Lalit and Justice Ashok Bhushan, then asked Mallya's legal counsel to explain the nature of the confidential proceedings. However, Mallya's representation declined to share any information and said that he would first have to take instructions on the issue. To this Justice Lalit responded, "We want to know what is going on? What is pending there now?"

Mallya has been staying in the UK since March 2016, but the May verdict was a major setback for him. It was expected that he could be brought back to India soon.

However, now the UK authorities have made it clear that this is likely to take some time.