Kingfisher Airlines ₹180 cr loan fraud: Spl court refuses to entertain CBI’s plea to record confession of an accused

A court denied the CBI's request to record a confessional statement in the ₹180-crore loan fraud case against Vijay Mallya, citing jurisdiction issues.

MUMBAI: A special court has refused to entertain the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) plea to record the confessional statement of an accused in the ₹180-crore loan fraud case against fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya and Kingfisher Airlines. Special CBI judge Dr JP Darekar refused the CBI’s plea primarily on account of lack of jurisdiction, and asked the central agency to approach the chief metropolitan magistrate for recording the accused’s confession.

Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya (PA Images via Getty Images)

The case was registered by the CBI in 2016 and Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines and others were accused of defrauding two public sector banks of ₹180 crore by diverting the funds made available to the airline.

The CBI approached the special court in the first week of September, claiming one of the 10 accused who had been charge sheeted in the case had, on his own free will, volunteered to get his confessional statement recorded under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The accused was well-acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case and intended to disclose his role and involvement of other accused persons in commission of the crime, the CBI told the court and requested it to record the accused’s statement.

The court, however, refused to entertain the plea in view of section 183(1) of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, which lays down that any magistrate in the district in which an offence is registered can record a confession or statement in connection with the offence.

The court granted liberty to the investigating officer in the case and the accused to approach the chief metropolitan magistrate for recording the confession.