BJP, Congress welcome Mallya's arrest

New Delhi [India]. Apr 18 (ANI): Unanimously welcoming liquor baron Vijay Mallya's arrest in London, the Centre and the opposition on Tuesday said the country's money should be made to return. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Syed Zafar Islam said the Indian Government was always committed regarding Mallya's arrest. "The Government of India was committed from day one that Mallya should be arrested. If he has been arrested in London then we should give credit to the Government for him being arrested by the Scotland Yard," he told ANI. Echoing similar sentiments, Congress leader Raj Babbar said justice should be done and the money embezzled by him should be returned. Another Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit asserted that Mallya should be extradited soon. "I welcome that, even though this should have happened much earlier. I am surprised as to why he ran away. He defaulted on loan payments, he should have remained here and tried to settle things with authority. His arrest is a welcome thing. I hope he is extradited soon so that justice is done and our banks start getting money," he said. Absconding businessman Vijay Mallya was arrested in London on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud, said the Scotland Yard. "Officers from the Metropolitan Police's Extradition Unit have this morning, Tuesday 18 April arrested a man on an extraction warrant. He was arrested after attending a central London police station, and will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court later today, 18 April," read the official statement of the Scotland Yard. However he was granted bail after his arrest. This comes after a Delhi court had issued an open-ended non-bailable warrant against Mallya in connection with the the 1995 FERA violation case. Last month, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed that extradition of absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya has been stratified by Secretary of State of the U.K. Government and soon a warrant would be released against him. In March, the Supreme Court fast-tracked the proceedings against Mallya and reserved its order on contempt proceedings against him for allegedly diverting $40 million to his children's accounts in foreign banks in violation of court orders. A bench of Justices A.K. Goel and U.U. Lalit reserved its order on whether or not Mallya was guilty of contempt and what action should be taken to bring back the money. The court concluded the proceedings after a three-and-a-half-hour hearing during which the Centre contended that Mallya was mocking the Indian system after fleeing the country. It said the government was holding talks with U.K. authorities to get him deported. The apex court had started proceedings against Mallya a year ago and had issued notice to him on March 8, 2016 on a plea by a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) for recovery of about Rs. 9,000 crore which the businessman and his companies owed to them. The liquor baron, however, fled the country days before the apex court took up the case against him. Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi urged the court to direct Mallya to bring back the $40 million which he had received from Diageo. He told the bench that Mallya had breached court orders and his refusal to bring back the money had aggravated the breach and he should be directed to appear personally before the court. (ANI)