Vijay Mallya arrested in ED money laundering case, gets bail

London : Embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya was "re-arrested" today in a money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of India before being released on a 650,000 pounds bail by a court here.

The 61-year-old flamboyant businessman, already out on bail on an extradition warrant executed by the Metropolitan Police earlier this year, was released on the same bail conditions as before to appear for his extradition hearing on December 4.

Speaking to PTI outside the Westminster Magistrates' Court, Mallya said that he has "done nothing wrong" and described the allegations against him as "fabricated".The UK s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which is arguing the case against Mallya on behalf of the Indian authorities, told the court the new charges were "supplemental" to the earlier fraud charges against him.

The new case gives evidence of the destination of the allegedly fraudulently obtained funds, some of which they claim may have landed in the Formula One team - Force India."It is essentially about the ultimate destination of the funds... some of which we believe ended up in Force India Formula One," said CPS barrister Mark Summers.

However, Ben Watson, arguing on behalf of Mallya, sought the court's direction to ensure "nothing further" would be presented from the Indian side."We are very keen to keep the December hearing, something the government of India have pushed for. We can't be served further evidence like this again...we are doing all we can to meet the timetable," he said.

Mallya's team will now respond to the additional evidence by the end of October with further responses on both sides scheduled for early November in time for a pre-trial hearing on November 20.The judge was sympathetic to the defence team, saying their request was "quite reasonable".

She then informed Mallya that he is freed on the "same bail conditions as before", which he must abide by after the court clerk formally asked Mallya if he consented to be extradited to India on the charges and he responded with "no".She is scheduled to preside over the hearing listed for two weeks starting December 4.

If she rules in favour of extradition at the end of the trial, the UK home secretary must order Mallya s extradition within two months of the appropriate day.However, the case can go through a series of appeals before arriving at a conclusion.Sources in New Delhi said his arrest was pursuant to the extradition request made by the Indian government based on money laundering charges against Mallya.

The ED in a statement said that the process for extradition of Mallya to ensure his presence during the trial of the offence of money laundering has been initiated by it."For the purpose, a fresh application for his extradition was routed through the Ministry of External Affairs which has since been filed before the concerned court in London," it said.