The prime ministers of India and the UK reportedly argued over the state of India's jails

• At the Commonwealth Summit last month, UK Prime Minister Theresa May is said to have questioned her India counterpart Narendra Modi about the state of India’s jails.
  
• The question was in reference to the Indian government’s plan to extradite liquor baron Vijay Mallya.
  
• Mallya is contesting the extradition on the grounds that India’s prisons are overcrowded and unhygienic.
  

Barring the obvious legal and diplomatic complications, the Indian government’s quest to extradite liquor baron Vijay Mallya from the UK has faced another roadblock. Since December 2017, Mallya’s legal team have been arguing against his extradition by citing the poor conditions of India’s jails.

The topic of the state of India’s jails came to the fore again this week, as reports surfaced that Theresa May, the Prime Minister of the UK, questioned her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi about the same when he visited the UK last month for the Commonwealth Summit. According to Sushma Swaraj, India’s minister of external affairs, Modi reportedly responded by saying that these jails were the same ones where Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi were held.

The subtext was clear. As the struggle for India’s independence gained momentum in the early 20th century, the British had no qualms about imprisoning a number of national leaders and freedom fighters in the very same jails. Why then, should they protest against the imprisonment of a businessman who is wanted for money laundering and defrauding India’s banks of billions of rupees?

A final judgement on Mallya’s extradition is expected to come on July 11th. A favourable ruling for India is contingent on providing a sufficient amount of evidence and paperwork that there is no threat to Mallya’s life in India and that a “prima facie” case, or a case with sufficient proof to merit a trial, exists in the country.

The UK’s Crown Prosecution service, a public prosecutor, is representing India’s interests and is said to have handed a 2000-page dossier from the Indian government to the courts in this regard. As part of the case, the Indian government has also furnished information about the conditions of the prison cell in Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail where Mallya will be detained.