The Supreme Court on Monday refused a plea made by the lawyer of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya to discharge him from the case and gave the Union government six weeks to file a status report on the progress made in extraditing him from the United Kingdom.
A Special Bench led by Justice U.U. Lalit rejected a plea by advocate E.C. Agrawala to withdraw from the case.
On October 5, the court asked Mr. Mallya’s side to come clean about the nature of a “confidential” proceedings going on after the rejection of his appeal against extradition in the U.K. Supreme Court.
Also read: Secret legal matter holding up Vijay Mallya’s extradition: U.K.
The government had informed that the extradition case in the U.K. was over but some “secret” proceedings were on.
The court had wanted to know about the nature of these confidential proceedings and ordered Mr. Mallya’s side to clarify by November 2 the nature of this confidential proceedings, when it will end and by when the businessman will appear before it to accept his sentence for contempt.
The court has adjourned the case to next January.
On August 30 last, the court dismissed Mr. Mallya’s review petition against a May 9, 2017, verdict of contempt. It found no merit in his three-year-old review plea.
In May 2017, the court found him guilty of contempt for wilful disobedience of its order to come clean about his assets and not disclosing a sum of $40 million (₹600 crore) he received from British liquor major Diageo Plc following his resignation as Chairman of United Spirits Limited in February 2016.
Money given to children
In his original arguments before the court in 2017, Mr. Mallya said the $40 million was one among “thousands of transactions” he did and cannot be counted as an asset. He said he had no control over that money now as he had disbursed it among his three adult children, who are U.S. citizens.
Also read: Court issues LoR to U.S. for aiding CBI in probe against Vijay Mallya
Countering the allegations of a banking consortium led by State Bank of India, which filed the contempt of court petition against him, Mr. Mallya said he had given a complete list of assets as of March 31, 2016. The court had ordered him to provide the banks with a list of his assets so that they could recover ₹9,200 crore due to them.
The banks had sought contempt action against him, arguing that the disbursal of the $40 million among his three children was in direct violation of a standing Karnataka High Court order that none of his assets should be “alienated, disposed of or be subjected to the creation of third party rights.”
