The contempt case against liquor baron was in relation to the bank loan default of over ₹9,000 crore involving the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.
The Court had held Mallya guilty of contempt of court in 2017 for wilfully disobeying its orders in a petition filed by the Consortium of Creditors (COC) led by the State Bank of India (SBI). Mallya is alleged to have transferred funds into the accounts of other persons in violation of the Court’s orders, in addition to making “vague and unclear” disclosures about his assets.
The banks had, specifically, alleged that Mallya concealed facts and diverted the money to his son Siddharth Mallya and daughters Leanna and Tanya Mallya in “flagrant violation” of the orders passed by the Karnataka High Court.
A Bench led by Justice Lalit had earlier this year observed,
“We will list this matter for disposal in January. We cannot wait anymore now. Proceedings for extradition have attained finality and respondent 3 (Vijay Mallya) has exhausted all avenues of appeal in United Kingdom.”
The Court had also appointed Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta amicus curiae in the case against Mallya in which he was held to be guilty of contempt of court for wilfully disobeying court orders in a petition filed by the Consortium of Creditors (CoC) led by the State Bank of India (SBI).
Mallya is alleged to have transferred funds into the accounts of other persons apart from making “vague and unclear” disclosures about his assets. The banks had, specifically, alleged that Mallya concealed facts and diverted the money to his son Siddharth Mallya and daughters Leanna and Tanya Mallya in “flagrant violation” of the orders passed by the Karnataka High Court.
Mallya was then directed to be present before the Court for the hearing on his sentencing, but he had failed to do so, considering he had already left India by the time.
In August 2020, the apex court had dismissed the review petition filed by Mallya against the 2017 judgment.
Subsequently, the Union Ministry of External Affairs had told the Supreme Court that the extradition of Mallya has not been given effect due to some “secret proceedings” initiated against him in the United Kingdom.
The Court had eventually proceeded to hear the matter without Mallya.
Source: Barandbench
