A special court in Mumbai on Tuesday dismissed businessman Vijay Mallya’s petition seeking a stay on the Enforcement Directorate’s attempt to declare him a fugitive economic offender, PTI reported.
Special judge MS Azmi said he will hear the investigating agency’s arguments on the matter on November 22. The investigation agency has also proposed that Mallya’s properties be confiscated under the provisions of the new Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.
On September 24, Mallya’s counsel Amit Desai had told the court that the investigating agency had “resisted” his attempt to repay his loans to public sector banks.
Desai had requested the Prevention of Money Laundering Act court to postpone the hearing till November 26. Earlier in October, Desai had said that the appellate tribunal had directed the ED to refrain from confiscating properties till November 26, which is the next date of hearing before the tribunal.
The agency’s lawyer, DP Singh, however, described Desai’s arguments as delaying tactics to ensure Mallya did not face proceedings in Indian courts.
Mallya is fighting a number of lawsuits in the United Kingdom and India related to fraud and money laundering allegations. India is also attempting to extradite him from the UK.
On September 12, Mallya claimed that he met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley before leaving the country in 2016 and offered to reach a settlement with banks. The businessman, who is accused of defrauding banks of over Rs 9,000 crore, made the statement after a hearing of his extradition case in the Westminster Magistrate’s Court in London.
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