New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday sentenced fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya to four months in jail for contempt of court. The top court also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on him.
Mallya was found guilty of transferring US$40 million to his children in 2017 in violation of orders passed in a case filed by a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India.
The banks had approached the court in the Rs 9,000-crore loan case involving Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines.
Delivering the sentence on Monday, a bench headed by Justice UU Lalit said: “We have held in the 2017 judgment that the action of the contempt in payment of US$ 40 million was contempt. In order to uphold the majesty of the law. We should impose adequate punishment on the contemptuous ones and the amount in dispute is available for execution.
The bench further observed that Mallya showed no remorse and that the punishment was necessary to “uphold the glory of law”. It directed Mallya to deposit the amount with interest within four weeks. The court said that in case of default, the authorities should initiate attachment proceedings.
The court had on March 10 reserved its order on sentencing, as Mallya was not produced despite several occasions. In his absence, the hearing on the sentence proceeded on Monday.
During the hearing, the Center told the bench that though Mallya’s extradition from the United Kingdom was allowed, he could not be brought to India pending some “secret proceedings” against him, details of which were not known to the Indian. Is. government. He has been in the UK since 2016.
In view of this stand, the court had appointed senior advocate Jaideep Gupta to assist the bench, who suggested taking the matter forward after giving the apex court a last opportunity to appear. Gupta submitted that Mallya and his counsel were given ample opportunity to address the court and, therefore, the principles of natural justice were upheld.
The order came on a contempt petition filed by a consortium of banks led by SBI, alleging that Mallya had transferred the amount in violation of court orders. The Supreme Court was told that money was given to his son and daughter and this fact was hidden from the court.
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