Mumbai: Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that he cannot tell when he can return to India as he was not in a position legally to leave the United Kingdom (UK).
Revoked Passport and UK Court Orders Prevent Travel
Mallya submitted a statement to the court through his counsel, senior advocate Amit Desai, stating that he did not have an active passport after it was revoked and hence, he cannot give a definite date of return to India.
The statement was submitted after a bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad had said that it would not hear Mallya’s plea against the order declaring a fugitive economic offender until he returns to India. The court had then asked the former liquor baron to clarify whether or not he intended to return to India.
Mallya, based in the UK since 2016, has filed two petitions in the HC -- one challenging an order declaring him as a fugitive economic offender and the other questioning the constitutional validity of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act. He is facing multiple cases in India on fraud and money laundering charges.
No Active Passport and UK Travel Ban Hinder Return
In his statement, the businessman said that he cannot give a definite date for his return to India as he does not have his Indian passport, which was revoked by the Indian government in 2016, and also because there are orders of courts in England and Wales that prohibit him from leaving the country.
“Mallya is not permitted to leave or attempt to leave England and Wales or apply for or be in possession of any international travel document. In any event, the petitioner is unable to precisely state when he will return to India,” Desai read out the statement in court on Wednesday.
Desai reiterated that Mallya’s presence was not required in the country for the court to hear his pleas against the fugitive tag and the provisions of the Act.
Appearance in India Would Render Petitions Infructuous
“If he (Mallya) were to appear in India then all these proceedings would be rendered irrelevant as the statute says that once the offender appears in the concerned court of law then all these orders would be set aside,” Desai told the court, emphasising that the petitions would then be infructuous.
The court has directed the Union government to file its reply affidavit to Mallya’s statement and kept the matter for hearing on March 11.
Mallya was declared a Fugitive Economic Offender in January 2019 by a special court hearing cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
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