New Delhi/London: Absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who is facing money laundering charges in multi-crore fraud case in India, on Wednesday said that he had met with  finance minster to settle matters before he left the country.


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“I met the finance minster to settle matters before I left. The banks had filed objections to my settlement letters,” Mallya told reporters outside London's Westminster Magistrates' Court. “I obviously don't agree with what the prosecution is alleging. let the court decide,” he added.



Mallya, who has been on bail on an extradition warrant since his arrest in April last year, responded to the swarm of reporters gathered outside the court in his characteristic manner.


"As far as I am concerned, I have made a comprehensive settlement offer before the Karnataka High Court. I hope the honourable judges will consider it favourably; everybody gets paid off and I guess that's the primary objective, said Mallya, who is fighting extradition to India on charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to around Rs 9,000 crores.


At the previous hearing in July in the Westminster Magistrates' Court in, Judge Emma Arbuthnot had asked the Indian authorities to submit a "step by step video" of the Barrack 12 of Arthur Road Jail for "the avoidance of doubt" over the availability of natural light in the cell where the businessman is expected to be detained pre-trial, during trial and in the event he is convicted by the Indian courts.


The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), arguing on behalf of the Indian government, had agreed to the request and the video has since been submitted to the court.


Mallya's defence team had demanded an inspection of the jail cell to ensure it meets the UK's human rights obligations related to extradition proceedings.


The CPS stressed that the Indian government had provided adequate material which rendered the need for an inspection unnecessary, leading to the demand for a video recording to be reviewed by the court.


The judge is also expected to hear the final closing arguments in the case, after which a timeline for her ruling is likely to become clearer.


The extradition trial, which opened at the London court on December 4 last year, is aimed at laying out a prima facie case of fraud against Mallya.


With PTI Inputs