The King of Good Times, liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya has earned a dubious distinction: He is the first to be booked under the new Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.
A special PMLA court in Mumbai named Mallya as an offender under the relatively new Act on Saturday, empowering probing agencies to seize his properties and assets world over. The court pronounced the judgment on an application by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The agency pleaded before the court to declare Mallya as a fugitive economic offender under the provisions of the Act that came into existence in August 2018.
Special judge MS Azmi declared Mallya a fugitive economic offender under Section 12 of the Act after hearing extensive arguments. On February 5, a hearing will be held on confiscation of Mallya's properties.
Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said the law was brought in by the NDA government to ensure that absconders such as Mallya are brought to justice. "Mallya grew under the patronage of the Congress government," says Patra, "Despite him being bankrupt, he was given loans and his loans were even restructured. He fled with Rs 9,000 crore of the country's money. It is a feather in the cap for BJP's fight against corruption."
A fugitive economic offender is one who has an arrest warrant in his or her name for a scheduled offence; and has fled India to avoid criminal prosecution; or refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution.
Mallya faces charges of defaulting on loans to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore. He fled India for UK in 2016, where he faces charges of money laundering. The matter concerning his extradition has been referred to UK's Secretary of State.
The Vijay Mallya Case Files
From 2005, when the maiden Kingfisher Airlines flight took off, to 2019, when he was declared a fugitive offender, Vijay Mallya’s fortunes have taken a nosedive.
- July 17, 2014: Kingfisher is declared to be India’s top NPA as it failed to repay loans of over 4,000 cr.
- September 1, 2014: UBI declares Mallya and the three directors of KFA as willful defaulters.
- March 2, 2016: Mallya leaves India
- December 4, 2017: Mallya’s extradition trial begins in UK
- December 10, 2018: UK court orders Mallya’s extradition
- January 5, 2019: Mallya declared fugitive economic offender.
Compiled by DNA – Research N Archives
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