The Supreme Court on Tuesday held liquor baron Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt after he failed to declare details of his assets. The apex court has asked the 61-year-old embattled baron, who is currently in the United Kingdom, to appear before the court on July 10 to present his case.
A bench of Justices AK Goel and UU Lalit observed that the liquor baron had failed to submit details of his assets and thus upheld the plea by a consortium of banks that sought the initiation of recovery proceedings to the tune of about Rs 9,000 crore.
Mallya hid details of his transaction with a global liquor major Diageo when he filed an affidavit in the court sharing details of all his movable and immovable assets, the court said.
The top court's order is expected to boost India's dialogue with the Brits as it seeks Mallya's extradition from the UK. On April 18, British authorities had arrested Mallya in connection with India's extradition request. India can cite the top court's order when the extradition case comes up for next hearing in a London court on May 17.
Senior Advocate Shyam Divan representing the State Bank of India (SBI) had submitted that in August 2016, Mallya deliberately failed to disclose $40 million he received in February 2016 through sale proceedings from Diageo. "The money was received in violation of various orders and injunctions against him. Dr Mallya deliberately failed to disclose this amount and has transferred the money in a trust set up for his three children," Divan said.
The banks appealed for orders to be passed to "secure the deposit of the said amount of $40 million before this court or the DRT forthwith, pending disposal of the further recovery proceedings."
Last November, a trial court in Delhi had issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against him for allegedly evading summons in a case of FERA violation.
"It appears that he has no intention whatsoever at all to come to India to submit to the jurisdiction of the court," Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sumit Dass had then observed. "The conduct of this accused of his propounding the plea stating he is handicapped for want of a passport and hence could not travel - the fact that he could have obtained the emergency travel documents but still has not availed the same clearly and unequivocally shows that the plea raised by the accused was laced with malafide and an abuse of the law," the court observed.
While issuing order for the NBW, the court further observed that "the accused had no regard for the law of the land and has no intention to return." The court was of the opinion that "coercive steps" needed to be taken against the accused.
In May 2016, India issued a red corner notice (RCN) - which acts like an international warrant against Mallya. This move came after the British authorities refused to deport Mallya to India.
He also failed to obey the court's order to appear before it.
After three failed auctions, the banks in April managed to sell Mallya's iconic Kingfisher villa in Goa to actor and beer baron Sachin Joshi for Rs 73.01 crore. The villa was among the assets Mallya pledged to his lenders.
