Double whammy for Vijay Mallya: ED files case, DRT blocks $75 million in Diageo deal

March 8, 2016

Mumbai/New Delhi/Bengaluru, Mar 8: In a double blow to beleaguered business tycoon Vijay Mallya on Monday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Mumbai lodged a money laundering case and the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in Bengaluru barred British liquor giant Diageo from paying him anything till a case against him was disposed off.

vijaymallyaThe tribunal barred Diageo plc from paying Rs 5.04 billion ($75 million) as a severance package to Mallya who quit the chairmanship of its Indian company, United Spirits Ltd. last month, till the pending case against the liquor baron before it is decided.

"The presiding officer of DRT (R. Benkanahalli) ordered temporary attachment of the severance package amount and directed Diageo not to pay it till our case is finally heard and disposed of," counsel for State Bank of India (SBI) told media persons in Bengaluru.

Reading out the one-page order, Benkanahalli said Mallya shall not temporarily draw the $75 million mentioned in the interlocutory application till the case`s disposal.

"Diageo plc and United Spirits Ltd shall not disburse the amount ($75 million) to Mallya or his nominees or agents till the disposal of the bank`s original application (OA). Amount as sought by the applicant banks stands attached," the order said.

The tribunal also directed all defendants to furnish details of the agreement on or before the next date of hearing (March 28), when it will hear the bank`s three other interlocutory applications, seeking his arrest, impounding of his passport and seizure of his assets.

It also ordered issuing notice on the bank`s application to Diageo office in London through registered post.

A consortium of 17 state-run and private banks led by SBI filed the application on February 26, a day after Diageo signed the deal with Mallya for resigning as chairman and not competing with it in the spirits business worldwide for the next five years for $40 million this year and the balance ($35 million) over the next four years.

According to the SBI counsel, Mallya`s now defunct Kingfisher Airline owes the consortium a whopping Rs.10,000 crore, including compound interest over the remaining combined loans of Rs.7,800 crore borrowed between 2004-12 before it was grounded and shut down subsequently.

In another major blow for Mallya, the ED on Monday registered a money-laundering case against him.

"We have filed a case against Mallya on Monday. The case is specifically based on the case registered by the CBI against him and others in (October) 2015," Assistant Director (Enforcement Directorate) A.K. Rawal said in New Delhi.

Mallya and the top executives of the erstwhile KFA have been booked under Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), Rawal said.

The measure follows an audit of the Rs 7,200 crore loan that the bank consortium had extended to the airline but was not repaid.

The KFA is alleged to have diverted as much as Rs.4,000 crore of that money to international tax havens like Mauritius and Cayman Islands, which is being probed by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Other businesses of Mallya were also being scrutinized by the ED under the PMLA, an official, requesting anonymity, told IANS in Mumbai.

It is feared that Mallya might become a fugitive from law by shifting base to a country where it might be difficult to make him face the Indian laws, officials said.

The flamboyant businessman, who recently announced his plans to spend more time with his family in Britain, has refuted all charges against him and taken exception to being labelled as a "wilful defaulter" by some of the lender banks.

Mallya has also denied he was planning to flee the country and said he was ready to cooperate with the lenders and the agencies to settle the debt.

Though the consortium of lenders moved the tribunal in 2013 for recovery of their outstanding loans, Mallya`s dramatic announcement that he would move to London forced the banks to lay first claim on the deal amount and rush to the tribunal for early hearing of its case.

Perceived as the `King of Good Times`, Mallya was recently in the news when some former airlineemployees wrote an open letter, blaming him for the grounding of the airline and damaging the country`s reputation in the aviation industry.

Once reputed as the most glamorous and luxurious private airline in the country, KFA fell into bad days and was grounded in October 2012 after a huge financial mess, including default of bank loans, dues to oil companies, airports and even staff salaries.

Comments

Rikaz
 - 
Tuesday, 8 Mar 2016

No matter what, he should not have stopped paying for his employees...it is their curse...that brought him to this stage....

karan
 - 
Tuesday, 8 Mar 2016

this same SBI bank and other bank need all the document and everything if poor guy have they will not provide even 20,000 of loan, and here mally did wonderful job, dont pay even one rupee to them all this bank eaten poor people's money.

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News Network
February 2,2020

New Delhi, Feb 2: The Congress on Sunday released its manifesto for Delhi polls, promising to implement unemployment allowance of Rs 5,000-7,500 per month and cashback schemes for water and power consumers, if voted to power.

Presenting the manifesto, Delhi Congress chief Subhash Chopra said the party will provide free power up to 300 unit per month.

The manifesto also committed to spend 25 per cent budget each year on fighting pollution and improving transport facilities.

An unemployment allowance of Rs 5,000 for graduates and Rs 7,500 for post graduates per month will be provided under the Yuva Swabhiman Yojna, he said.

The Congress will launch flagship cashback schemes for power and water supply to benefit consumers saving these resources. The party, if voted to power, will open 100 Indira Canteens to provide subsidised meals at Rs 15, Chopra said.

The Congress will challenge the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the Supreme Court and demand the Centre to withdraw the law. The party will also not implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the existing form of the National Population Register (NPR), if voted to power in Delhi.

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News Network
February 2,2020

Lucknow, Feb 2: In an early morning firing at Lucknow's Hazratganj, the city centre, Vishva Hindu Mahasabha state president Ranjit Bachchan was killed while he was out on a morning walk on Sunday.

Ranjit Bachchan was taking a stroll in Hazratganj in the morning when bike-borne assailants opened fire on him and killed him on the spot. The Mahasabha leader was shot in the head multiple times.

The incident took place near the CDRI building in Lucknow's Hazratganj.

In the firing, Ranjit Bachchan's brother also suffered bullet injuries. He has been rushed to the trauma centre. Ranjit Bachchan was a resident of Gorakhpur.

The early morning shootout in the Uttar Pradesh capital's central area has caused tension in the area.

Dinesh Singh, DCP Central Lucknow, said, "The body has been identified as of Ranjit Bachchan, who had gone out on morning walk when some unknown assailant shot him. A police team has been formed and further investigation is being carried out."

Before being associated with the Mahasabha, Ranjit Bachchan was a Samajwadi Party member and was often spotted with former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.

The Samajwadi Party has hit out at the Yogi Adityanath government over the law and order situation in the state and demanded immediate resignation of the government.

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Agencies
June 27,2020

Mumbai, Jun 27: The Shiv Sena on Saturday hit out at the BJP over its charge that the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) had accepted donations from the Chinese embassy, and asked it whether the issue had any connection with intrusion by the neighbouring country in Ladakh and the martyrdom of 20 Indian soldiers.

The Sena also alleged that those raising questions against the government over the standoff with China were being labelled as Chinese agents by the BJP.

BJP chief J P Nadda had on Thursday targeted the Congress and the Gandhi family saying that the RGF had allegedly accepted donations from the Chinese embassy. Hitting back, the Congress had said that the RGF issue raised by the BJP government was a "manufactured charge" and "diversionary tactic" to deflect attention from the LAC crisis.

"What do you mean by Congress gets money from China? Instead of responding to the issues raised by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi over the Chinese incursions, the BJP leaders accused the Congress of receiving funds from China," the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

"Will BJP's revelations about the donations stop the Chinese activities along the border? The BJP should tell what connection does these donations have with the Chinese incursion and the martyrdom of 20 soldiers," it added.

"In our country, many political leaders and parties, and not just the Congress, are beneficiaries of foreign countries. The BJP speaking about this is like throwing stones in the mud," it said.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party said that Chinese President Xi Jinping visited India twice in the last six years.

"He was hosted in Gujarat. But it is a fact that China has betrayed. Holding talks on the one hand and continuing with the offensive along the border on the other hand is China's old policy," it said.

In the present scenario, the entire country stands firmly with PM Modi. This crisis is not for the BJP or the Congress, but for the entire country, whose prestige is at stake, it said.

"The BJP can fight with the Congress any time later.

But now is the time to fight against China. It should speak on that," the Sena said.

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