SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — Vijay Mallya, the embattled liquor baron believed to be hiding in the United Kingdom to avoid arrests in cases related to loan fraud, has had two no-bail warrants issued against him for evading court summons in a Foreign Exchange Regulation Act case and a 2012 check bouncing case.
The founder and owner of now defunct Kingfisher Airlines, Mallya was originally reported as fleeing to London when the Enforcement Directorate initiated a legal process earlier in the year to recover money owed to banks by the airline. It reportedly owes over $1.3 billion to a consortium of 17 Indian banks.
Friday, the Indian court in the national capital of New Delhi, ruled that Mallya “has no intention to return to India” and “has scant regard for the law of the land.”
“It appears that the accused is not willing to take any steps to return to India,” Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sumit Dass said during the hearing, which was attended by advocates Ramesh Gupta and Ajay Bhargava on behalf of Mallya.
The court ordered the initiation of “coercive process against the accused,” and issued no-bail warrants, calendaring the next hearing on the matter for Dec. 22, the Press Trust of India reported. Mallya’s lawyers said their client does not wish to file any reply to the Enforcement Directorate’s response on his plea to excuse him from appearing at the court hearing.
The Enforcement Directorate has reportedly already attached Mallya’s properties worth over Rs 80bn and has registered a fresh case against him and Kingfisher Airlines in August for loan default of over Rs 60bn.
