The SC rejected Vijay Mallya’s plea to free him from the contempt of court case.
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court today gave the Central government two months’ time to find out the status of former liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s extradition from the United Kingdom. When asked if a timeframe had been set for the process, the government said it had no information.
Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, today sought six weeks’ time to file a status report on the progress of the extradition case of the businessman, which the bench of Justices UU Lalit and Ashok Bhushan agreed to, adjourning the case to the first week of January 2020.
Mr Mallya’s lawyer EC Agarwala, meanwhile, wanted the Supreme Court to free him from the case, filing a discharge application. The court, however, rejected the plea.
The bench was hearing a case relating to the contempt of court by the businessman by misleading it, directing him to appear earlier last month.
The contempt of court case involved Mr Mallya transferring 40 million dollars to his son Siddharth Mallya and daughters Leanna and Tanya Mallya in violation of court orders.
On October 5, the government had told the court that the extradition was ordered by a British court but has been delayed by “secret proceedings” initiated in that country.
Mr Mallya, accused of defaulting on loans worth around Rs 9,000 crore involving his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, has been in the United Kingdom since March 2016 and has been fighting his extradition to India.
