The Ministry of External Affairs on Sunday revoked the passport of ‘wilful defaulter’ Vijay Mallya under sections of the Indian Passport Act.
MEA spokesperson tweeted, “After having considered replies by @TheVijayMallya, MEA revokes his passport under S.10(3)(c) & (h) of Passports Act.”
This comes after the MEA had suspended his passport on April 15 and gave him a week's time to reply.
After having considered replies by @TheVijayMallya, MEA revokes his passport under S.10(3)(c) & (h) of Passports Act pic.twitter.com/Stb9rX63OV
— Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) April 24, 2016
The Indian government's decision to revoke Mallya's passport, means that he has now become a persona non-grata. Now, India may recall him or the United Kingdom may tell Mallya that he is unwelcome in the country and send him back.
But Mallya has many options available with him including fighting it out legally and applying for 'Indefinite leave to remain'.
These are the following options available to Mallya :
1) Fight the case legally, challenge the MEA's decision. He can challenge Indian investigating agencies and claim that there was no proof for many allegations.
2) Come back to India: After coming back to India, Mallya can choose to appear in person before the Supreme Court and reach an agreement with the banks on how he will repay his loans.
3) Seek citizenship of a foreign country: Like Lalit Modi, he can also take a citizenship like some little known country like Malta with whom India has no extradition treaties.
4) 'Indefinite Leave to remain in UK' status: After Lalit Modi’s passport was revoked in 2011, he obtained the ‘leave to remain in UK' status. According to an NDTV article, under British laws, such a person can stay on in the UK as a businessman, provided he invests at least 200,000 pounds in the country even after he becomes a persona non grata.