The Supreme Court on Monday asked former liquor baron and now fugitive Vijay Mallya to be present before the court in person on October 5 at 2 pm. The apex court has directed the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to arrange his presence whi is currently in the United Kingdom. It was earlier reported n the day that Mallya’s review petition on the apex court’s 2017 order that had held him guilty of contempt of court for transferring 40 million dollars to his children were rejected.
A bench comprising Justices UU Lalit and Ashok Bhushan said, "We do not find any merits. Review petition dismissed." The apex court had reserved its verdict on the review plea on August 27 after hearing arguments from both sides.
Mallya had filed the petition seeking review of the apex court's May 9, 2017 order by which he was held guilty of contempt of court for transferring USD 40 million to his children in violation of the order.
Mallya is an accused in a bank loan default case of over Rs 9,000 crore, involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines. In 2017, the court was hearing a petition filed by a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI), which had said that Mallya had allegedly transferred USD 40 million received from British firm Diageo, to his children in "flagrant violation" of various judicial orders.
The SBI in its plea said, Mallya has disobeyed the court's order by making "vague and unclear disclosure of assets" by transferring 40 million dollars from Diageo to his children's accounts, and also by ignoring the summons to the court.
On June 19, the apex court sought an explanation from its Registry as to why the review petition filed by Mallya was not listed for the past three years. The Supreme Court has also asked the registry for the names of the officers involved in the process.
Mallya fled India in March 2016 and is reported to be in England. In January 2019, the Indian government had declared Vijay Mallya a fugitive economic offender.