New Delhi, Nov 30:The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that it will hear the arguments at 1400 hrs on the quantum of sentence against fugitive businessman and liquor baron Vijay Mallya, in connection with a contempt case.
A bench of the Apex Court, headed by Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, said, “We will hear the arguments on the quantum of sentence at 2pm today.”
India is trying to extradite Mallya from the United Kingdom, where he is currently staying. The founder of now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines was convicted by SC in 2017 for failing to disclose the transfer of 40 million USD to his children’s accounts. The Court had in August last year dismissed his review petition in the case.
The Bench said that since Mallya’s lawyer appears in each hearing, they will continue with the arguments on the point of quantum of sentence against the fugitive businessman, even though the convict is currently not present in the Court.
The Ministry of External Affairs has reportedly told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to remain present before the top court of the country at 2 pm.
Mallya was an accused in a bank loan default case of over Rs 9,000 crore. The Court’s 2017 order had come on a plea by a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI), which had said that Mallya had allegedly transferred USD 40 million received from British firm Diageo, to his children in “flagrant violation” of various judicial orders.
