The Supreme Court today sentenced fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya to four months in jail and imposed a fine of ₹ 2,000 on him for a 2017 contempt of court case. He was accused of hiding information from the court.
Mallya was convicted of contempt in 2017 over transferring $40 million to his children in violation of court orders. The court said that the court is to deposit the fine within four weeks to the Supreme Court legal services authority, failing which a further sentence of two months will be added. The top court had on March 10 reserved its order in the matter, observing that proceedings against Mallya have hit a “dead wall”.
Mallya is accused in a bank loan default case involving more than Rs 9,000 crore involving his Kingfisher Airlines. An association of banks led by State Bank of India (SBI) had filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking contempt action against Mallya, alleging that he had abused his children. He has transferred US 40 million, in violation of court orders.
The Supreme Court then found him guilty of contempt in 2017. The court also rejected his plea seeking a review of the 2017 judgment in August 2020 and directed him to appear before it. Earlier on March 10, the Supreme Court had reserved its decision after hearing the case in absentia as Mallya did not appear in court. Mallya has been living in the United Kingdom since March 2016. He is on bail on an extradition warrant executed by the Scotland Yard on April 18, 2017.
