1. Home
  2. When will you return and face the law? HC asks Mallya

When will you return and face the law? HC asks Mallya

Agencies
March 1, 2019

Mumbai, Mar 1: The Bombay High Court Friday asked fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya when would he return to India and face the ongoing legal proceedings against him.

A division bench of Justices Indrajit Mahanty and Sarang Kotwal was hearing a petition filed by Mallya against a city court's January 5 order declaring him as 'fugitive' under the newly-enacted Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA).

Mallya's lawyer Amit Desai said declaring him a fugitive and thereby permitting his assets to be confiscated would only harm the interests of his lenders.

Mallya had volunteered to repay the loans of thousands of crores of rupees which he had taken from banks, he said.

Desai called the FEOA Act "draconian". 

"Prima facie this (the fugitive tag) is unconstitutional...this allows the Centre to confiscate everything, irrespective of whether a property has been bought from the proceeds of crime or not," the lawyer said.

At this, the judges said, "But this tag will go away as soon as your client comes back and faces the proceedings. The property too will be released....So, when is that happening?" 

Desai said Mallya wants to return, but a British court has prohibited him from leaving the UK without its permission.

The bench pointed out that it was only a protective order as Mallya had challenged his extradition proceedings.

"You can volunteer to return. Have you ever gone to this English court and said you want to return (to India) and face pending proceedings?" the judges asked.

Mallya was declared as fugitive following a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the special FEOA court.

The next hearing on ED's application before the special court, seeking permission to start confiscation proceedings, is scheduled for March 13.

Desai said most of Mallya's properties were already attached by "some agency or another", and the confiscation "will only mean no proceeds from such properties can be used to pay off the lenders and banks".

The bench directed ED lawyer Hiten Venegaonkar to file reply to Mallya's plea by March 8.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
July 11,2020

New Delhi, Jul 11: Poll strategist Prashant Kishor took a swipe at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday, saying this is time to fight the coronavirus not elections and that he should not endanger people's lives in a "hurry" to hold the assembly polls.

"The coronavirus situation in Bihar is worsening like it is in many other states of the country. But a big part of government machinery and resources are busy making preparation for the polls.

"Nitish Kumar ji, this isn't time to fight elections but the coronavirus. Don't endanger people's lives in this hurry to hold the polls," he tweeted.

Kishor, once a confidant of the JD(U) president before he turned a critic and was expelled from the party, joins leaders like LJP chief Chirag Paswan and RJD's Tejashwi Yadav in suggesting that the Bihar assembly polls should be deferred due to the pandemic.

Polls in Bihar are due in October-November but the Election Commission has so far not made any official announcement about its schedule.

The BJP and the JD(U) have been holding organisational meetings and said that they are ready for the elections.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
January 7,2020

New Delhi, Jan 7: Services at various bank branches and ATMs are likely to be affected as hundreds of employees will go on a bank strike across the country on Wednesday.

The bank strike is part of the Bharat Bandh call given by trade unions to protest against the labour reforms and economic policies of the Central government, according to reports.

The protestors' main demand during the Bharat Bandh is that the Centre should drop the proposed labour reforms.

A Bill in this regard was passed and proposes to merge 44 labour laws into four codes -- wages, industrial relations, social security, and safe working conditions.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 10,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 10: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on monday thanked PM Narendra Modi  for extending birthday wishes to him in malayalam.

"Thank you, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for this elaborate birthday greeting in shudh sahitya Malayalam! Am touched by your thoughtfulness," Tharoor tweeted with a picture of the letter from Modi.

In another tweet, the Congress MP also posted its translation, that reads,

Tharoor, who is an MP from Thiruvananthapuram, turned 64 on march 9.

Comments

SmR
 - 
Tuesday, 10 Mar 2020

Is he next Scindia waiting to board the BJP ship?

 

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.