PM must take it up with British PM Keir Starmer to clear the decks for the extradition of the fugitive trio—Mallya, Nirav and Lalit Modi

A video of Lalit Modi (the founder of the cricket carnival, IPL) attending Vijay Mallya’s lavish 70th birthday bash in London went viral a few days ago in which he was heard saying, “We are the two fugitives, the biggest fugitives of India.” He has since apologised, whether in contrition or just for form’s sake, nobody knows. The third biggest fugitive, Nirav Modi of the PNB scam, wasn’t on hand, obviously, because in December 2022, he lost his final appeal against an extradition request by Indian agencies and hence is lodged in a jail pending a decision on his request for political asylum by the UK government. 

London attracts fugitives, especially from India, due to its strong rule of law adherence to the Human Rights Act and a legal system that can significantly delay extradition, allowing offenders to exploit loopholes by claiming political persecution or poor prison conditions, including torture or risk of death back home, effectively creating a temporary safe haven despite extradition treaties. The high costs and lengthy appeals process in UK courts further stall return, making it a preferred spot for economic offenders and criminals. With shared legal roots from the British era, Indian fugitives and their UK-based lawyers understand the system well, giving them an advantage in fleeing to London. Nirav Modi, for example, has made a virtue of his self-certified suicidal tendencies to ward off the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai. His partner in crime and uncle, Mehul Choksi, however, committed the mistake of fleeing to the Caribbean and is grappling with the Belgian authorities. He ought to have listened to his nephew. 

The dubious honour of being declared a fugitive under the newly minted Fugitive Economic Offenders Act 2018, however, goes to Vijay Mallya, whose Kingfisher Airlines went belly up, unable to pay off the Rs 9,000 crore loan plus interest. While he did flee India in March 2016 under the watch, or lack of it, of the Narendra Modi government, Modi turned the tables on the Congress and mocked it for practising ‘phone banking’ long before its advent. It is indeed a legacy issue for which the Modi government’s riposte was the fugitives act of 2018, which swears by the hit-where-it-hurts adage. Latching on to it, Mallya says with injured innocence that now that the Indian government has impounded as much as Rs 14,000 crore of his assets in India, the case for his extradition should be thrown out of the nearest window and the Indian courts should absolve him of all the charges of non-repayment of bank loans. He conveniently forgets that while disgorgement is the remedy for financial crimes, he is also charged with crimes of money laundering and conspiracy. If he were to face trial in India, many heads may roll in addition. He may spill the beans and sing like a canary, much to the discomfiture of his collaborators and conspirators. 

More than a decade ago, the OECD members entered into a compact not to give a leg up to sham and dubious transactions that create black money abroad in defiance of domestic laws of the nations they belong to. Of course, it remains on paper, with funds continuing to flit from one country to another with a click of the mouse. But the truth is if Switzerland is unable to shake off the opprobrium of harbouring the wealth of sundry crooks and despots, thanks to its banking secrecy laws rooted in numbered accounts, the UK cannot shake off the charge of harbouring crooks and despots. London, along with Manhattan and Zurich, forms the international financial centre triad. The US, the UK, and Switzerland control the world banking system and the bullion trade. How irresistible for crooks to be enjoying such cooler climes!

Switzerland, which frustrated the Indian government’s attempts to crack the alleged clandestine Bofors payoffs, meekly complied with the US government’s orders. Yes, the US can get details of the Swiss bank account holders through international agreements and laws like the FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) and the US Anti-Money Laundering Act 2020 (AMLA), which compel Swiss banks to share data on US persons with the IRS for tax compliance, forcing an end to strict banking secrecy for tax evaders and requiring disclosures, often with penalties, for non-compliant banks and clients. The US Department of Justice and IRS have pursued criminal charges and large fines against banks (like UBS) and individuals, effectively ending the era of secret Swiss accounts for tax evasion, as eloquently and vividly brought out by Paul Erdman in his vastly revealing novel “The Silver Bears”, in which he tells the tale of American crooks courting Switzerland by forming a bank called International Bank of Sicily and America in Switzerland to hide their ill-gotten wealth from the IRS. 

Both Switzerland and the UK obviously think of India as a pushover. So, unless India becomes an economic powerhouse like the US, its crooks would take sanctuary for their funds and persons in the two countries. In the meantime, it should be in the forefront of forging a global alliance against harbouring crooks and their wealth by members of the UN. Prevention is better than cure. Therefore, it must up its ante to foil wannabes’ attempt to flee India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi must take it up with the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, to clear the decks for the extradition of the fugitive trio, Mallya and the two Modis, Nirav and Lalit.