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Bloomberg
The largest and oldest prison in India’s financial hub Mumbai will get a new block of cells that will meet international norms on prisoner rights. The reason: fugitive businessmen are citing poor jail conditions to stave off extradition.
The Mumbai Central Prison, popularly known as the Arthur Road Jail, is demolishing an old structure to make way for the block, the Times of India newspaper reported, citing an official it did not identify. The government is in the process of improving standards of prisons across Maharashtra state in line with standards in the US and Europe, Rajvardhan, inspector general, prisons, said.
“We don’t want anyone saying they don’t want to come back to the country,†he said. The government doesn’t extend any “special treatment†to anyone, he said.
The construction of the new block follows allegations by fugitive Indian businessman Vijay Mallya, who fled India to the UK and told a London court that Barrack 12 at the Arthur Road jail lacks natural light. India is seeking the extradition of Mallya, who is fighting numerous lawsuits in the UK and his home country over fraud and money-laundering allegations after Indian lenders have pursued him for an unpaid debt of about $1.4 billion owed by his carrier that was grounded in 2012.