Supreme Court directs MHA to produce Vijay Mallya on October 5

Vijay Mallya

Dismissing Vijay Mallya's plea seeking review of a 2017 judgment which held him guilty for contempt of court, the Supreme Court on Monday sought the fugitive business tycoon be produced before it on October 5.

The top court had held him guilty of contempt, as Mallya did not truthfully disclose the full account of his assets.

On Monday, a bench comprising Justices U.U. Lalit and Ashok Bhushan, dismissing the review petition, said: "In our considered view, the attempt on part of the respondent No 3 (Vijay Mallya) to have a re-hearing in the matter cannot be permitted nor do the submissions make out any error apparent on record to justify interference in review jurisdiction. These Review Petitions are, therefore, dismissed."

The top court told Mallya to appear before it on October 5 at 2 p.m. and also directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to facilitate and ensure his presence.

Mallya was also found guilty for violating a court order by siphoning $40 million from his account, as he was restrained from making any such withdrawal. Earlier, the top court had directed Mallya to be present before it in July 2017.

The apex court noted that the reply on January 30, 2017 had reiterated the submissions advanced earlier by Mallya and had not in any way contradicted the oral undertaking given to the Debt Recovery Tribunal, Bengaluru and the orders passed by the Karnataka High Court or had offered any explanation why the said oral undertaking and the orders could not be relied upon.

The top court noted that Mallya's counsel advanced submissions touching upon the questions whether the directions issued by this court were violated and whether this court ought to have proceeded to exercise contempt jurisdiction when the contempt, on second count, was of the orders passed by the Karnataka High Court.

The apex court's order came on a review plea filed by Mallya against the July 14, 2017 judgment wherein he was found guilty of contempt for not paying Rs 9,000 crore dues to banks despite repeated directions. On June 19, the Supreme Court had sought explanation from its registry regarding Mallya's appeal. The bench said that according to the record placed before it, the review petition was not listed before the court for the last three years.

In 2017, the apex court passed the order on a contempt petition against Mallya by a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India.

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