Delhi: A Delhi court today issued fresh directions to attach the properties of businessman Vijay Mallya, who was declared a proclaimed offender for evading summons in a money laundering case related to FERA violations.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Sherawat issued the order after advocate N K Matta, the special public prosecutor appearing for the Enforcement Directorate (ED), told the court that the agency had not received any reply from the authorities responsible for the attachment.
The court took Matta’s submission on record and posted the matter for further hearing on July 5. The court had on March 27 directed the attachment through the Police Commissioner, Bengaluru, and had sought a report by today regarding the compliance of the order.
The order was passed on an application moved by the ED seeking attachment of Mallya’s properties. The court had on January 4 declared Mallya a proclaimed offender for evading summons in a FERA violation case after noting that he failed to appear before it despite repeated summonses.
It had on April 12 last year issued an open-ended non-bailable warrant against the liquor baron. Unlike a non-bailable warrant, an ‘open-ended NBW’ does not carry a time limit for execution.
On November 4, 2016, while issuing a non-bailable warrant against Mallya, the court had observed he had no inclination to return and had scant regard for the law of the land. It had said that “coercive process has to be initiated against Mallya” as he was facing proceedings in several cases ad avoiding appearance in those matters.
The court had also held that Mallya’s plea that he wanted to return to India but was “incapacitated” to travel as his passport had been revoked by the Indian authorities was “malafide” and “abuse of the process of law”.