Non-bailable warrant issued against Mallya for tax evasion

The chief metropolitan magistrate court on Saturday issued a fresh non-bailable warrant against Vijay Mallya and Kingfisher Airlines chief executive Sanjay Agarwal as they failed to appear before the court even after the last warning in connection with a case of tax evasion to the tune of Rs1,000 crore.

The chief metropolitan magistrate court on Saturday issued a fresh non-bailable warrant against Vijay Mallya and Kingfisher Airlines chief executive Sanjay Agarwal as they failed to appear before the court even after the last warning in connection with a case of tax evasion to the tune of Rs.1,000 crore.

The court issued a warrant on Saturday after the counsel for Service Tax department Advaiy Sethna pressed for warrant as the two didn’t appear before the court but filed an application for exemption from personal appearance. The warrant will facilitate the government to strengthen their case to seek extradition of Mallya.

The department had approached the court in the case to recover the dues to the tune of around Rs1,000 crore, including interests. It was alleged that the airline, which stopped operations in October 2012, did not deposit the service tax collected on ticket sales with the department and diverted the money for other purposes.

The magistrate court had while hearing the case on July 18, gave a last chance to Mallya and Agarwal to appear before the court.

However, on Saturday when the case came up for hearing, the cousel for Mallya and Agarwal filed an application for exemption from personal appearance. While for Mallya, his lawyer pleaded that he is unfit to fly and his passport is revoked by the Indian government while Agarwal was unwell to travel.

Sethna however, objected to the plea. Accepting department’s plea, the court later issued non bailable warrant against the two.