Mallya summoned under fugitive offenders ordinance

Mumbai: A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Saturday summoned the beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya asking him to appear before the court on August 27 and respond to an application filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking to declare him a fugitive economic offender. The ED also seeks to confiscate properties worth Rs 12,500 crore belonging to Mallya.

The ED on June 22 had moved an application before the special PMLA court under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance 2018 against Mallya, for declaring him a fugitive economic offender and to confiscate his properties. If Mallya does not appear before the court then the designated judge M.S. Azmi would take the next step towards declaring Mallya a fugitive economic offender and also the court could direct to attach his properties.

The court on Saturday took cognisance of ED’s application and issued notice to Mallya. The newly promulgated ordinance empowers law enforcement agencies like ED to confiscate all linked assets of an absconding loan defaulter or bank fraudsters fleeing the country. The ordinance is aimed at deterring economic offenders from escaping from the process of law by remaining outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts.

According to the government data, as of May 15, Kingfisher Airlines owes Rs 9,900 crore to a consortium of 17 public sector banks. However, on June 22 Mallya requested the Karnataka high court to allow his firms to sell assets worth Rs 13,900 crore under judicial supervision and repay the creditors including the public sector banks. Recently, in a statement, Mallya claimed that he had written letters to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the finance minister Arun Jaitly on April 15, 2016 to explain himself but he did not receive any response from them.