Contempt of court; Vijay Mallya has been sentenced to 4 months in prison

Vijay Mallya was sentenced to four months in jail in a contempt of court case for not honestly disclosing his assets and secretly transferring $40 million to his family members. He will undergo the jail term as and when he is brought back to India. A bench, headed by Justice Uday U Lalit, also directed him to deposit $40m with the court within four weeks, along with an interest of 8% per annum, if not, attachment proceedings shall begin.

The money, which he received from Diageo Plc, was transferred to his children and estranged wife. The Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, prescribes a maximum punishment of imprisonment for six months. Former Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya, who faces charges of bank loan default to the tune of over ?9,000 crores associated with the collapse of his Kingfisher Airlines in 2012, is an NRI while his children and estranged wife are US citizens. He denies ‘fleeing’ from India and says he made an ‘unconditional’ offer to pay back the sum in full.

The plea to reconsider the conviction under the contempt charge was also dismissed by the apex court in August 2020. The 2017 verdict had come on a plea by a consortium of creditors led by the State Bank of India. The case had been adjourned several times owing to his unavailability or inability to appear in person.

Last year, the Union administration notified the court that ‘secret’ processes of an unspecified nature were preventing the booze baron’s extradition from the United Kingdom. Simultaneously, the Centre’s attorney general Tushar Mehta and counsel Rajat Nair urged exemplary punishment for Mallya’s willful non-participation before the Supreme Court. Senior counsel Jaideep Gupta, who was appointed as amicus curiae to assist the court in November 2021, requested that the issue be heard because Mallya is aware of the contempt action.

Vijay Mallya’s lawyers told the Supreme Court earlier this year that the fugitive businessman has intimated them about the secret proceeding initiated by him with the UK government against a 2019 order by a London court to extradite him. The lawyers also submitted that they did not have any further instructions on the merits of the contempt case. Following all the submissions, the court reserved its judgment on the quantum of punishment.