SC: Vijay Mallya's plea rejected, case was related to declaring him an economic offender

Pankaj Prasad
Vijay Mallya
Vijay Mallya

The counsel for the petitioner had said that Mallya is not giving any instructions to him in this matter.

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition by fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya. The petition was filed to challenge the ongoing proceedings in a Mumbai court to declare him an economic offender and confiscate his assets.

The top court has rejected the plea of Mallya's lawyer not to prosecute after he argued that he was not getting any instructions from the petitioner in the matter. "The counsel for the petitioner submitted that he was not giving any direction to him in the matter. A bench comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and Justice Rajesh Bindal said, "In view of this submission, the petition for non-prosecution is dismissed. "

The top court had on December 7, 2018 issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Mallya's plea and refused to stay the probe agency's plea before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Mumbai. .  

On January 5, 2019, Vijay Mallya was declared a fugitive by a special court in Mumbai under the PMLA Act.

Under the provisions of the Act, once a person is declared a fugitive economic offender, the prosecuting agency has powers to confiscate his property. Mallya fled to Britain in March 2019. He is wanted in India in connection with a default in repayment of Rs 9,000 crore owed by several banks to Kingfisher Airlines (KFA).