SC dismisses Vijay Mallya’s plea against bid to declare him fugitive economic offender

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed businessman Vijay Mallya's plea challenging proceedings in a Mumbai court to declare him a fugitive economic offender and seize his assets.

The counsel representing Mallya stated that he was not receiving any instructions from the petitioner in this matter, after which the high court dismissed the petition. “Appellant's representative states that the appellant does not give any instructions to the solicitor for the appellant. In view of this declaration, the petition is dismissed for non-prosecution,” Justices Abhay S Oka and Rajesh Bindal said.

The Supreme Court, which had on December 7, 2018 issued a notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Mallya's request, refused to stay the proceedings on the probe agency's plea before the Special Anti-Money Laundering Court (PMLA) in Mumbai, seeking the designation of "fugitive ” for him under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act of 2018.

On 5 January 2019, a special court in Mumbai declared Mallya a "fugitive" under the law. According to the provisions of the law, once a person is declared a fugitive economic offender, the public prosecutor's office has the power to confiscate his property. Mallya, who fled to the UK in March 2016, is wanted in India for defaulting on Rs 9,000 crore loaned to Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) by several banks. Mallya approached the Supreme Court in 2018 challenging the Bombay High Court's order rejecting his plea to stay the proceedings before a special PMLA court in Bombay on the ED's request to declare him a fugitive economic offender under the new law.

"The application has been filed at the threshold and at a very premature stage when the lower court is still hearing the prosecution's plea to declare him (Mallya) as a fugitive economic offender," the high court said, making it clear that the special PMLA Court would continue the ongoing proceedings against Mallya on the merits.

In a separate case, on 11 July 2022, the Supreme Court sentenced Mallya to four months in jail for contempt of court and directed the Center to ensure the presence of the fugitive businessman, who has been in the UK since 2016, to undergo the detention. The Supreme Court said Mallya had never shown any remorse or apologized for his conduct and adequate punishment must be imposed to uphold the majesty of the law. The Supreme Court also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on Mallya, who was found guilty of contempt of court by the Supreme Court on 9 May 2017, for transferring US$ 40 million (one million = 10 lakh) to his children in violation of law. court orders.