Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya lodges final appeal to extradition from UK for £1bn fraud

'King of Good Times' is due to return to face fraud charges resulting from the collapse of his defunct company Kingfisher Airlines

Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya faces a return to India within weeks after losing his latest bid to appeal against his extradition. AFP  

Indian businessman Vijay Mallya has made a final bid to appeal his extradition from the UK.

The former airline magnate lost an appeal last month in Britain's High Court to extradite him to India on £1 billion fraud charges.

He had two weeks to seek a final appeal with the UK's Supreme Court.

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service now has until May 14th to respond to his request.

"The leave to appeal has been filed. We have until May 14 to respond,” it said on Monday.

The ruling last month upheld a 2018 decision to extradite him to India to face fraud charges resulting from the collapse of his defunct company Kingfisher Airlines.

India wants to bring back Mallya, 64, whose business interests have ranged from aviation to beverages, over £1.05 billion in loans which Kingfisher took out from Indian banks.

In rejecting his appeal, judges in London said there "was a prima facie case of fraud by false representation".

Earlier this month, a hearing in the UK's bankruptcy court had given him more time to repay the money.

Mallya, who is known as the “King of Good Times” in India, was arrested in London in April 2017 after 17 banks accused him of willfully defaulting on the £1.05bn debt accumulated by Kingfisher Airlines - a full-service carrier he founded in 2005 and shut down seven years later.

The Indian government said in February that Mallya must face trial in relation to “a very substantial allegation of dishonesty.”

He separately faces a bankruptcy petition from 12 state-owned Indian banks over the debt, as well as a number of freezing orders on several of his assets, including his properties, yachts, cars and paintings.

Mallya accepts that he owes huge sums to the banks, but contests the amount, the papers show.