To Bring Vijay Mallya Back, A 20-Year-Old Treaty Is Being Dusted Off

New Delhi: Flummoxed by how to bring liquor mogul Vijay Mallya home, investigators are planning to flash a two-decades-old treaty signed with the UK, where the 60-year-old fugitive has held right of residency since the 90s.

Authorities trying to recover about $1.4 billion from his collapsed Kingfisher Airlines want to question Mr Mallya, who flew to Britain in March. His diplomatic passport, which he carried as a member of the Rajya Sabha, was revoked in April with a judge in Mumbai issuing a non-bailable warrant for his arrest.

Having Mr Mallya deported is not possible because UK laws say a person need not hold a valid passport to remain in the country if the document was valid at the time of entry. As a workaround, the Enforcement Directorate which handles financial crimes wants the government to apply the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) signed with the UK in 1995. Treaties like this are used to exchange information as well as facilitate with the identification and examination of sought-after people along with combatting criminal activity.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry is consulting legal experts to see if the treaty can be invoked to see the UK's help.

The beer baron has made it clear that he will not fly back because he is certain he will not get a fair trial in India. "I am willing to answer all their questions. But why only in India? And why after my passport has been revoked?" he said in an interview last month, saying any hearing could as easily be done in England or by video conferencing.

The government has realized that Mr Mallya's extradition is possible only if he is recognised as a criminal in both India and the UK and even then, he has the option of challenging his deportation in UK courts.