Supreme Court holds Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday held UB Group chairman Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt of court for suppressing information and misleading the court.

“We give him an opportunity to be present in court personally while deciding on quantum of punishment,” justices A.K. Goel and U.U. Lalit said while directing Mallya’s personal appearance in the court on July 10 to deliberate on the punishment to be awarded to him, if he appears.

The bench held him guilty of contempt in the petitions filed by Consortium of Indian banks seeking recovery of over Rs 6,200 crore dues. The banks had alleged that Mallya had failed to disclose his assets as directed by the court. They also wanted a direction to Mallya, who has fled to United Kingdom, that the 40 million US dollars be deposited in an Indian court pending a final adjudication on recovery proceedings initiated against him. The banks had blamed Mallya of deliberately not revealing details of the payout while disclosing his assets and liabilities. They said the amount of US dollars 40 million was instead transferred immediately as a gift to trusts set up for his three children.

Mallya in his recall application contended that he had not committed any contempt.