Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday made it clear that it won’t consider fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya’s petition, challenging provisions of the Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEO) Act, until he returns to India.
A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad said Mallya must first clarify whether he is willing to come back. “You have to come back… if you cannot come back then we cannot hear this plea,” the court said.
The 70-year-old liquor baron, who has been living in the UK since 2016, has filed two petitions in the high court — one challenging an order declaring him as a fugitive economic offender and the other questioning the constitutional validity of the 2018 Act.
Mallya is facing multiple cases in India on fraud and money-laundering charges.
While posting the matter for further hearing on February 18, the high court bench said it was giving Mallya another opportunity.
“You must return. If you do not return, we cannot hear your petition. You are evading the court process, so you can’t seek equitable relief while deliberately avoiding court proceedings. Nevertheless, in fairness, we are not dismissing the case and are giving you another chance,” the high court said.
The court ordered Mallya to file an affidavit clearly stating whether he will return to India or not.
“When will you come? You (Mallya) have already argued that you are entitled to a hearing without your physical presence in a court of law. But first file an affidavit clearly stating so,” Chief Justice Chandrashekhar said.
Senior counsel Amit Desai, appearing for Mallya, submitted that there were judgments to show that such pleas can be heard and decided without the physical presence of the petitioner.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, said Mallya cannot challenge the provisions of the FEO Act after being declared a fugitive under it.
“He (Mallya) can come to India first and then it can be seen whether he is liable or not liable to pay. He cannot not trust the law of the country,” Mehta argued.
Mehta also informed the court that extradition proceedings against Mallya in London were in their final stages. He suggested that Mallya may have filed the petitions anticipating his possible extradition. The solicitor general further said that in his affidavit, Mallya has claimed that banks were wrong to demand money from him.
His counsel told the court that the businessman’s properties in India have already been attached by the enforcement agencies.
Mallya was declared a fugitive economic offender in January 2019 by a special court hearing cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
