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Vijay Mallya hasn’t deposited $40million ordered by court, Supreme Court told
Vijay Mallya fled to the UK in 2016 following the charges of bank loan default to the tune of over ₹9,000 crore associated with the collapse of his Kingfisher Airlines in 2012
NEW DELHI: Vijay Mallya has not deposited the $ 40 million ( ₹318 crore) that he secretly transferred to his children which led the Supreme Court to sentence the liquor baron to four months in jail in a contempt case in July this year, the top court was told on Monday.
The debt recovery officer of the Bengaluru-based debt tribunal told the court that Mallya hadn’t complied with the Supreme Court’s July 11 order that gave him four weeks to deposit the $40 million with the recovery officer.
A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Uday Umesh Lalit and justice S Ravindra Bhat directed the matter to be listed for hearing on September 12.
In an August 18 letter to the court’s registry, the Bengaluru-based debt recovery tribunal’s recovery officer said that they hadn’t received the amount from either Mallya or the beneficiaries, his children. On Monday, the Centre’s second most senior law officer Tushar Mehta told the court that the position remained the same as Mallya has not made the payment.
Mallya is currently in the UK, where he is fighting his extradition to India. He has exhausted all legal options but is believed to have applied for asylum in the UK. Apart from Mallya, the July 11 order also made his son Siddhartha and daughters Leena and Tanya also liable to deposit $40 million. Mallya fled to the UK in 2016 following the charges of bank loan default to the tune of over ₹9,000 crore associated with the collapse of his Kingfisher Airlines in 2012.
Mallya is an NRI while his children and estranged wife are US citizens.
In its July 11 order, the top court sentenced Mallya to four months in jail in a 2017 contempt of court case for not honestly disclosing his assets and secretly transferring $40 million to his three children.
The bench, headed by CJI Uday U Lalit before his elevation, directed Mallya and his children to deposit $40 million, along with annual interest at the rate of 8%, within four weeks, failing which the court said, authorities can take all appropriate steps to retrieve the money.
The recovery officer was appointed by the debt recovery tribunal at Bengaluru after a consortium of creditors, led by State Bank of India, sought return of the loans advanced to Mallya and his Kingfisher Airlines.
The banks initially approached the debt recovery tribunal and it was in those proceedings, Vijay Mallya was told not to alienate his movable and immovable assets.
The bench, assisted by amicus curiae and senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, also directed Mallya to deposit ₹2,000 as fine or suffer two additional months of imprisonment in default.
