Extradition only way to bring Vijay Mallya back: Jayant Sinha

Extradition was the only way to bring back liquor baron Vijay Mallya to India from the UK, the government was working on the necessary legal process, Union minister Jayant Sinha on Wednesday said.

"We are working on the due process of law to bring Mallya back to India," the Union Minister of State for Finance told reporters here. He and Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu were here to talk about the achievements of the Narendra Modi-led government's two years in office.

"We have declared him (Mallya) a wilful defaulter but we have to go through the legal process with the UK," he said, replying to a question.

"Extradition is the only way to bring him back here, but the extradition process with the UK is very complicated and we are working on the legal process. We can bring him only after getting extradition approval from the UK," Sinha said.

The liquor baron, whose defunct Kingfisher Airline owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to the banks, left the country in March.