A Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Saturday declared liquor baron Vijay Mallya, accused of allegedly committing a fraud of Rs 9,000 crores, a fugitive economic offender.
A Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Saturday declared liquor baron Vijay Mallya, accused of allegedly committing a fraud of Rs 9,000 crores, a fugitive economic offender.
After the Special PMLA court order, the government can now confiscate his property. The court also refused to give Mallya an interim relief and refused his application to stay the order to give him some time to appeal.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had cited a number of reasons why it had a strong base in pressing the application asking fugitive economic offender (FEO) tag for the embattled businessman who is now living in the UK.
The ED, in its arguments, said that a London-based court had initiated proceedings to extradite Mallya and it was one of the strong reasons to support the prosecution's demand declaring him an FEO. The ED also pointed out the fact that while the accused was allegedly eloping from the country, he left with a cargo filled with 300 bags under the guise of attending a pre-scheduled meeting at the World Motor Sport in Geneva, Switzerland.
"If he had a pre-planned meeting then why would he carry 300 bags along with him in the cargo?" DN Singh, the counsel for ED, asked Mallya's lawyer. "Did it not mean that he left the country with an intention of eloping?" questioned Singh.
Mallya's lawyer, in an explanation against the ED's demand of declaring Mallya as an FEO, had said that his client never disrespected the agency. He had said that it was a meeting for which Mallya had left the country in March 2016 and hadn't left in secrecy.
Singh further questioned if they had anything substantial, like a diary, which had details of Mallya's scheduled meeting. "There were several summons as well as three non-bailable warrants which were issued against Mallya, but none of the orders were abided," Singh said.
Mallya has been trying hard not to return to India. He had cited the pitiable conditions of the Indian jails as a reason for not returning home and facing trial. Responding to the same, the agency had recorded a video of the condition of the jails and sent it to the UK court, after which a UK court had approved the condition of the jail. Mallya had also termed his arrests as well as his extradition procedure as politically-motivated activities.
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