SC Adjourns Contempt Case Against Vijay Mallya as Government Fails to Produce Him

The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned the hearing on the contempt of court case against liquor baron Vijay Mallya.

New Delhi, July 14: The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned the hearing on the contempt of court case against liquor baron Vijay Mallya as the government failed to produce him. Reportedly, he had been ordered by the apex court to appear in person on July 10 but, after he failed to show up, the court had set July 14 for the hearing.

As per ANI, AG Venugopal informed the Supreme Court that the extradition proceedings, regarding the matter, are being conducted in UK Court and would most likely end by December 4. Venugopal is appearing for Centre in the Supreme Court.

Earlier, the court was hearing the plea of the consortium of banks which alleged that Mallya transferred USD 40 million he received as a loan from a British firm to his children instead of paying his dues. The absconding former Rajya Sabha member was arrested by the British authorities over fraud. The Indian government is trying to bring him back and had begun the complex extradition process. Mallya is out on bail.

Vijay Mallya has defaulted on loans worth a whopping Rs 9,000 crore. He got these loans from a number of banks. When the banks took action, he absconded to London. Apart from the loan default, he also has a money laundering case against him. (Also read: Mallya fails to appear in SC)

The ED in its charge sheet reportedly said that Mallya laundered over Rs 1,300 crore through over a dozen shell companies. The charge sheet has names of eight other people for their roles. ED said that the shell companies had no business activities were controlled by Mallya and many UB employees were the directors of these companies.