SC Rejected Vijay Mallya’s Plea: Declares Him ‘Fugitive Economic Offender’

The Supreme court today rejected a plea by businessman Vijay Mallya challenging proceedings in the Mumbai Court.

The plea was to declare him a fugitive economic offender and confiscate his properties, media reported.

The apex court dismissed the petition for non-prosecution after Mallya’s counsel submitted that he was not getting any instructions from the petitioner in the case.

A bench comprising of Justices Abhay S Oka and Rajesh Bindal stated, “The counsel for the petitioner states that the petitioner is not giving any instructions to the advocate for the petitioner. In view of this statement, the petition is dismissed for non-prosecution.”

Furthermore, the top court refused to stay the proceedings on ED’s plea before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court at Mumbai seeking the ‘fugitive’ tag for him under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018.

Notably, the PMLA court declared Mallya a ‘fugitive’ under the Act on January 5, 2019.
As per the provisions of the Act, once a person is declared a fugitive economic offender, the prosecuting agency has the power to confiscate his property.

Vijay Mallya is wanted in India over default of Rs 9,000 crore, which several banks loaned to Kingfisher Airlines (KFA). He fled to the United Kingdom in March 2016.

According to the sources, he moved the Supreme Court in 2018 challenging the Bombay High Court order which rejected his plea seeking a stay on the proceedings before a special PMLA court in Mumbai on the ED’s plea to declare him a fugitive economic offender under the new law.

Furthermore, from the sources, the High Court stated, “The application has been filed at the threshold and at a very premature stage when the lower court is still hearing the prosecuting agency’s request to declare him (Mallya) a fugitive economic offender.”

In a separate case, the Apex court had on July 11, 2022, sentenced Mallya to 4 months in jail for contempt of court and directed the Centre to secure his presence.

The apex court had said that Mallya never showed any remorse nor tendered any apology for his conduct and adequate punishment must be imposed to maintain the majesty of the law