ED seeks MEA's assistance to bring Vijay Mallya back to India

The Enforcement Directorate, the government's agency that investigates financial frauds, has sought the help of the Ministry of External Affairs to being business baron Vijay Mallya back to India, an ANI alert said. 

The Enforcement Directorate has written to MEA seeking assistance in bringing back Vijay Mallya to India through diplomatic channels, ANI said, citing unnamed sources. 

The agency is investigating Mallya in the case of a default of IDBI's Rs 940 crore loan. It recently sought to issue a non-bailable warrant against Mallya after he failed to adhere to its summons to be present in person for the hearings. The warrant was issued after Mallya ignored three summons from the ED, the maximum permitted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), and failed to appear in person, seeking more time at each instance.

Mallya has been in London since March 2, when cases against him from various stakeholder agencies started closing in on him. Mallya owes Rs 9,000 crore to a consortium of 17 banks, led by the State Bank of India. Various agencies are vying for help to bring Mallya back to India, while he maintains that he's not absconding. 

On Wednesday, a second non-bailable warrant was issued against him, this time by a Hyderabad Court, after he was convicted in a cheque bouncing case filed against him by GMR Hyderabad International Airport. The court has, however, not yet pronounced the quantum of his punishment.