LONDON/NEW DELHI (TIP): A UK court on Thursday rejected fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s request to shift the final hearing date in his extradition case to next year and fixed it for December 4.

Mallya, who is wanted in India for Kingfisher Airlines’ default on loans worth nearly Rs 9,000 crores, has been in the UK since March 2016 and was arrested by Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant on April 18.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), arguing on behalf of the Indian government, told the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London that they had “excellent cooperation” with the Indian authorities in the case and now had sufficient material to establish a prima facie case for the extradition of the 61-year-old former chief of erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines.

“We have completed a review of materials and I am happy to state that we have had excellent cooperation with the Indian authorities in this case,” CPS barrister Mark Summers told the judge.

“We are ready and willing to proceed and would invite the court to fix a hearing date at the earliest.” “We have completed a review of materials and I am happy to state that we have had excellent cooperation with the Indian authorities in this case,” CPS barrister Mark Summers told the judge.

“We are ready and willing to proceed and would invite the court to fix a hearing date at the earliest.”