Articles by "Vijay Mallya"
New Delhi, Mar 23 : A Delhi court has ordered attachment of liquor baron Vijay Mallya's properties in Bengaluru in a case relating to FERA violations.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Sherawat issued fresh directions after the Bengaluru Police, through Enforcement Directorate's special public prosecutor N K Matta and advocate Samvedna Verma, sought more time to execute its earlier order in this regard.
The court directed the state police to attach the properties by July 10, the next date of hearing.
The Bengaluru Police had earlier informed the court that it had identified 159 properties belonging to Mallya, but had not been able to attach any of them.
Mallya was declared a proclaimed offender by the court on January 4 last year for evading its summons in the case.
The court had on May 8 last year directed the attachment of Mallya's properties in the case through the Bengaluru Police commissioner and sought a report on it.
It had declared Mallya a proclaimed offender for evading summons in a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FERA) violation case after noting that he had failed to appear despite repeated summonses.
It had on April 12, 2017 issued an open-ended non-bailable warrant (NBW) against the liquor baron.
Unlike a non-bailable warrant, an 'open-ended NBW' does not carry a time limit for execution. [Agencies]
Mumbai, Aug 27: A special court here today fixed September 3 as the next date of hearing in the Vijay Mallya fugitive economic offender declaration case as some other parties have sought to implead themselves in the matter pertaining to the alleged default of over Rs 9,000 crore bank loans, officials said.
Officials said at least five parties, including a family member of Mallya, has sought court documents with regard to the ED seeking to get declared the businessman a fugitive economic offender under the new law and hence the court posted the matter for the next week.
The next date for the hearing in the case is September 3, as ordered by the court of special PMLA judge M S Azmi, they said.
A counsel for Mallya also appeared in the court today, as per the scheduled date of hearing, and sought some documents, they said.
The same court, on June 30, had issued notice to Mallya to appear before it on August 27 after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) charged the liquor baron under the new law as it enlarged its money laundering probe against him and others in a RS 9,000 alleged bank fraud case.
The central probe agency has also sought immediate confiscation of assets worth about Rs 12,500 crore of Mallya as part of this latest action.
The court had earlier issued non-bailable warrants against the businessman in two cases filed by the ED.
Mallya, his now defunct venture Kingfisher Airlines Limited and others availed loans from various banks and the outstanding amount, including interest, against him is Rs 9,990.07 crore at present, the officials had said while filing the plea under the new law.
The businessman is currently contesting his extradition case in London filed by the Indian government on behalf of the CBI and ED.
Mallya, in the past, has said that he has become the "poster boy of bank default and a lightning rod for public anger.
I have been accused by politicians and the media alike of having stolen and run away with Rs 9,000 crores that was loaned to Kingfisher Airlines (KFA). Some of the lending banks have also labelled me a wilful defaulter, he said.
The ED has furnished evidences in its two charge sheets, filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the past, to make a case for seeking a fugitive offender tag for Mallya from the court.
He is currently contesting the money laundering charges in London after India initiated extradition proceedings to bring him back to the country.
Both the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have filed cases for alleged loan default against him.
Modi government brought the new law as there have been instances of economic offenders fleeing the jurisdiction of Indian courts, anticipating the commencement, or during the pendency, of criminal proceedings .
The law has provisions for special courts under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 to declare a person as a fugitive economic offender and order immediate confiscation of assets.
A fugitive economic offender is a person against whom an arrest warrant has been issued in respect of a scheduled offence and who has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution, or being abroad, refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution, the government had said.
The cases of frauds, cheque dishonour or loan default of over Rs 100 crore would come under the ambit of the ordinance. (PTI)
London, Jul 26: Vijay Mallya has lost his attempt to appeal against a UK High Court order in favour of 13 Indian banks to recover funds amounting to nearly 1.145 billion pounds, in another setback to the embattled liquor tycoon.
The UK's Court of Appeal refused the 62-year-old businessman, who is separately undergoing an extradition trial in a UK court over fraud and money laundering charges by the Indian authorities, the permission to appeal against the High Court order dated May 8.
In the ruling, Judge Andrew Henshaw had refused to overturn a worldwide order freezing Mallya's assets and also denied permission to appeal, which left Mallya with the only option of turning to the Court of Appeal.
Judge Henshaw's order marked the first recorded case of a judgment of the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in India being registered by the English High Court, setting a legal precedent.
The Court of Appeal judges looked into Mallya's application seeking permission to appeal and decided against it yesterday.
As a result of the High Court order, the Indian banks - State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Corporation bank, Federal Bank Ltd, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Mysore, UCO Bank, United Bank of India and JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Co Pvt Ltd - have the right to enforce the Indian judgment against Mallya's assets in England and Wales.
"In the event permission has been refused, then the decision of the judge is final and Mallya does not have any further recourse of appeal against his decision," said Kartik Mittal, Senior Solicitor at London-based Zaiwalla & Co LLP.
"The English judicial system does not give parties an unfettered right to appeal. The right to appeal is restricted. A party can only appeal a decision of the first instance Court if the first instance Court or the Appellate Court gives the party permission to appeal," he explained.
"A party is granted permission to appeal only in cases where the appeal appears to have a real prospect of success or there is some other compelling reason why the appeal should be heard. Therefore, in majority of the cases permission is refused," he added.
In a related High Court ruling on June 26, Justice Bryan had issued an enforcement order in favour of the banks, granting permission to the UK High Court Enforcement Officer to enter Mallya's properties in Hertfordshire, near London, where he is based.
While it is not an instruction to enter and that particular order can be appealed against, the banks have the option to use the order as one of the means to recover funds owed to them.
"The High Court Enforcement Officer, including any Enforcement Agent acting under his authority, may use reasonable force to enter the Property if necessary," it states.
Mallya has since said that he has handed over a full statement of his UK assets to the court and there was no question of use of force to enter his home Ladywalk in the village of Tewin in England.
The former Kingfisher Airlines boss had also issued a lengthy media statement last month, condemning the charges against him as politically motivated.
He then took to social media to clarify that he made the statement "after a long period of silence" because he had filed an application before the Karnataka High Court on June 22, setting out available assets of approximately Rs 13,900 crores.
"Media reports quote an ED [Enforcement Directorate] official stating that I am attempting a plea bargain. Would respectfully suggest that the official read the ED charge sheet first," Mallya had said in his last Twitter message on the issue on June 30.
"I would invite the ED to advance the same plea bargain theory in Court in front of whom I have placed my assets," he said.
Meanwhile, Mallya remains on bail since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April last year.
He will return for his extradition hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on July 31, when closing arguments are expected from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), acting on behalf of the Indian government, and Mallya's defence team.
A judgment is expected in the case at a later date, which will be arranged by Judge Emma Arbuthnot.
While the CPS claims it has successfully established a prima facie case of fraud against the businessman, Mallya's lawyers have sought to establish that the criminal charges against him are "without substance".
They have also challenged the case on human rights grounds, questioning the conditions at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, where the businessman is to be held post-extradition. (PTI)
London, Jul 5: A UK High Court judge has issued an order in favour of a consortium of 13 Indian banks, granting permission to the British Enforcement Officer to enter the properties of Vijay Mallya in Hertfordshire, near London, in a setback to the beleaguered liquor baron who is fighting extradition to India on fraud and money laundering charges worth nearly Rs 9,000 crore.
The order permits the UK High Court Enforcement Officer and his agents entry to Ladywalk and Bramble Lodge in Tewin, Welwyn, where 62-year-old Mallya is currently based. However, it is not an instruction to enter, which means the banks have the option to use the order as one of the means to recover estimated funds of around 1.145 billion pounds.
"The High Court Enforcement Officer, including any enforcement agents acting under his authority, may enter Ladywalk, Queen Hoo Lane, Tewin, Welwyn and Bramble Lodge, Queen Hoo Lane, Tewin, Welwyn, including all outbuildings of Ladywalk and Bramble Lodge to search for and take control of goods belonging to the First Defendant (Mallya)," notes the order by Justice Byran, dated June 26.
"The High Court Enforcement Officer, including any Enforcement Agent acting under his authority, may use reasonable force to enter the Property if necessary," it states.
According to legal experts with knowledge of the case, the latest order by the High Court's Queen's Bench Division is the granting of permission, should it be required, while the banks consider "all the enforcement options available to them".
The order relates to the UK's Tribunal Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 and follows a UK High Court ruling in May, which refused to overturn a worldwide order freezing Mallya's assets and upheld an Indian court's ruling that the Indian banks were entitled to recover funds. It marked the first recorded case of a judgment of the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in India being registered by the English High Court, setting a legal precedent.
The victory for the 13 Indian banks which include State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Corporation bank, Federal Bank Ltd, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Mysore, UCO Bank, United Bank of India and JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Co. Pvt Ltd enables them to enforce the Indian judgment against Mallya's assets in England and Wales.
Mallya has made an application in the Court of Appeal seeking permission to appeal against the order, which remains pending.
Mallya, who is separately fighting extradition to India on fraud and money laundering charges worth an estimated Rs 9,000 crores, had recently issued a media statement condemning the charges against him as politically motivated.
He then took to social media to clarify that he made the statement "after a long period of silence" because he had filed an application before the Karnataka High Court on June 22, setting out available assets of approximately Rs 13,900 crores.
"We have requested the Court's permission to allow us to sell these assets under judicial supervision and repay creditors, including the Public Sector Banks such amounts as may be directed and determined by the Court," he tweeted.
"If the criminal agencies such as ED or CBI object to my proposal, and object to the sale of assets, it will clearly demonstrate that there is an agenda against me 'the Poster Boy' beyond recovery of dues to Public Sector Banks, he added.
Meanwhile, the former Kingfisher Airlines boss remains on bail since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April last year. He will return for his extradition hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on July 31, when closing arguments are expected from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), acting on behalf of the Indian government, and Mallya's defence team.
A judgment is expected in the case at a later date.
While the CPS claims it has successfully established a prima facie case of fraud against the businessman, Mallya's lawyers have sought to establish that the criminal charges against him are "without substance". They have also challenged the case on human rights grounds, questioning the conditions at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, where the businessman is to be held post-extradition. (PTI)
Mumbai, Jun 18 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today filed a fresh charge sheet against embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya, two companies linked to him and others on charges of money laundering for allegedly cheating a consortium of nationalised banks to the tune of over Rs 6,000 crore, officials said today.
The agency has filed the charge sheet, also known as prosecution complaint, before a special court here under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
It has named Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines (KFA), UBHL (United Breweries Holdings Limited) and others in the voluminous charge sheet, they said.
PTI was first to report yesterday that after this charge sheet, the central probe agency would immediately seek permission from a court to "confiscate" assets worth more than Rs 9,000 crore of the beleaguered businessman and his firms under the recently promulgated Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance.
The ED had last year filed its first charge sheet against Mallya, now in London, in the alleged Rs 900-crore IDBI Bank-Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) loan fraud case.
It has attached assets worth Rs 9,890 crore in this case till now.
The fresh charge sheet revolves around the complaint received from State Bank of India (SBI) on behalf of the consortium of banks for causing loss of Rs 6,027 crore to them by not keeping repayment commitments of the loans taken during 2005-10, they said.
The ED has based its investigation in this instance after taking cognisance of a CBI FIR. PTI
