Contempt against Vijay Mallya Waited sufficiently long cant be waiting any longer says SC
New Delhi Nov 30 PTI We cant be waiting any longer now and the sentencing aspect in the contempt matter against fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya who is an accused in bank loan default case of over Rs 9000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines would be dealt with finally on January 18 next year the Supreme Court said on TuesdayNoting that Mallya who is presently in the United Kingdom UK was held guilty of contempt in 2017 and the matter was thereafter to be listed to hear him on the proposed punishment to be awarded to him a bench headed by Justice U U Lalit said the apex court has waited sufficiently longThe top court had last year dismissed Mallyas plea seeking review of its 2017 verdict which held him guilty of contempt for transferring USD 40 million to his children in violations of the court ordersThe apex court noted that as per an office memorandum under the signature of Deputy Secretary extradition of the Ministry of External Affairs MEA placed before it the proceedings for extradition have attained finality and Mallya has exhausted all avenues for appeal in the UKThe bench also comprising Justices S R Bhat and Bela M Trivedi noted that the November 30 office memorandum also refers to proceedings pending in the UK which are stated to be confidential and as such no details are getting disclosedWhat we wish to do is we will list this matter for disposal in second week of January because we have waited sufficiently long enough we cant be waiting any longer now It has to see the light of the day at some stage or the other and the process must also get over the bench observed during the hearingIt said it will list the matter in January for disposal and at that juncture if Mallya want to take part personally he will be here through the extradition proceedings and in case he is not the bench will hear the submissions of his lawyerIn its order the top court said Mallya is at liberty to advance the submissions and if for any reason he is not present before the court lawyer on his behalf can advance submissionsThe bench noted that Mallya was held guilty of contempt in 2017 but because of certain proceedings which at the relevant time were going on in courts of law in the UK his presence could not be secured despite directions issued by the apex courtThe top court requested senior advocate Jaideep Gupta to assist it as an amicus curiae in the matterThe matter shall be dealt with finally on January 18 2022 it saidNoting that the office memorandum placed before it refers to certain proceedings which are stated to be confidential the bench said it appeared that these are the same proceedings which were referred to in the November last year orderWhen the matter was taken up for hearing at 2 PM Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Centre told the bench that he has just received a communication from the MEAThe communication was placed before the bench which perused itWhen the matter was taken up for hearing during the pre-lunch session the apex court said it proposes to go ahead with the contempt matter and list it for hearing on sentencingWhat we propose to pass an order that we will list the matter for hearing on sentence because the advocate for Mallya continues to appear So therefore there is no embargo on hearing the advocate on sentence We will go ahead with that the bench said Advocate Rajat Nair appearing for the Centre then told the bench that he is being led by the Solicitor General who is arguing before another courtHe Mehta has the instruction He has already spoken to the concerned authorities in the MEA If this matter can be taken up tomorrow or day after he will make submissions advocate Nair told the apex courtThe bench then said that it would take up the matter for hearing at 2 PM during the dayOn January 18 this year the Centre told the top court that the government is making all efforts to extradite Mallya from the UK but the process is being delayed due to some legal issues involved in the matterThe MEA has raised the issue of extradition with the UK government and the Centre was making all serious efforts to extradite Mallya Mehta had saidMallya is in the UK since March 2016 He is on bail on an extradition warrant executed three years ago by Scotland Yard on April 18 2017On November 2 last year the top court had asked the Centre to file status report in six weeks on the confidential legal proceedings pending in the UK on extradition of Mallya to IndiaThe Centre had on October 5 last year told the apex court that Mallya cannot be extradited to India until a separate secret legal process in the UK which is judicial and confidential in nature is resolvedThe Centre had in October last year said it is not aware of the secret on-going proceedings against Mallya in the UK as the Government of India is not party to the processThe Centre had earlier given details of the extradition proceedings against Mallya starting from February 9 2017 till dismissal of his appeal against extradition in UK on May 14 last year and said that he has thus exhausted all avenues of appeal in the UKThe Centre had said that following the refusal of leave to appeal Mallyas surrender to India should in principle have been completed within 28 days but the UK home office intimated that there is a further legal issue which needs to be resolved before Vijay Mallyas extradition may take place PTI ABA SA
New Delhi Nov 30 PTI We cant be waiting any longer now and the sentencing aspect in the contempt matter against fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya who is an accused in bank loan default case of over Rs 9000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines would be dealt with finally on January 18 next year the Supreme Court said on TuesdayNoting that Mallya who is presently in the United Kingdom UK was held guilty of contempt in 2017 and the matter was thereafter to be listed to hear him on the proposed punishment to be awarded to him a bench headed by Justice U U Lalit said the apex court has waited sufficiently longThe top court had last year dismissed Mallyas plea seeking review of its 2017 verdict which held him guilty of contempt for transferring USD 40 million to his children in violations of the court ordersThe apex court noted that as per an office memorandum under the signature of Deputy Secretary extradition of the Ministry of External Affairs MEA placed before it the proceedings for extradition have attained finality and Mallya has exhausted all avenues for appeal in the UKThe bench also comprising Justices S R Bhat and Bela M Trivedi noted that the November 30 office memorandum also refers to proceedings pending in the UK which are stated to be confidential and as such no details are getting disclosedWhat we wish to do is we will list this matter for disposal in second week of January because we have waited sufficiently long enough we cant be waiting any longer now It has to see the light of the day at some stage or the other and the process must also get over the bench observed during the hearingIt said it will list the matter in January for disposal and at that juncture if Mallya want to take part personally he will be here through the extradition proceedings and in case he is not the bench will hear the submissions of his lawyerIn its order the top court said Mallya is at liberty to advance the submissions and if for any reason he is not present before the court lawyer on his behalf can advance submissionsThe bench noted that Mallya was held guilty of contempt in 2017 but because of certain proceedings which at the relevant time were going on in courts of law in the UK his presence could not be secured despite directions issued by the apex courtThe top court requested senior advocate Jaideep Gupta to assist it as an amicus curiae in the matterThe matter shall be dealt with finally on January 18 2022 it saidNoting that the office memorandum placed before it refers to certain proceedings which are stated to be confidential the bench said it appeared that these are the same proceedings which were referred to in the November last year orderWhen the matter was taken up for hearing at 2 PM Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Centre told the bench that he has just received a communication from the MEAThe communication was placed before the bench which perused itWhen the matter was taken up for hearing during the pre-lunch session the apex court said it proposes to go ahead with the contempt matter and list it for hearing on sentencingWhat we propose to pass an order that we will list the matter for hearing on sentence because the advocate for Mallya continues to appear So therefore there is no embargo on hearing the advocate on sentence We will go ahead with that the bench said Advocate Rajat Nair appearing for the Centre then told the bench that he is being led by the Solicitor General who is arguing before another courtHe Mehta has the instruction He has already spoken to the concerned authorities in the MEA If this matter can be taken up tomorrow or day after he will make submissions advocate Nair told the apex courtThe bench then said that it would take up the matter for hearing at 2 PM during the dayOn January 18 this year the Centre told the top court that the government is making all efforts to extradite Mallya from the UK but the process is being delayed due to some legal issues involved in the matterThe MEA has raised the issue of extradition with the UK government and the Centre was making all serious efforts to extradite Mallya Mehta had saidMallya is in the UK since March 2016 He is on bail on an extradition warrant executed three years ago by Scotland Yard on April 18 2017On November 2 last year the top court had asked the Centre to file status report in six weeks on the confidential legal proceedings pending in the UK on extradition of Mallya to IndiaThe Centre had on October 5 last year told the apex court that Mallya cannot be extradited to India until a separate secret legal process in the UK which is judicial and confidential in nature is resolvedThe Centre had in October last year said it is not aware of the secret on-going proceedings against Mallya in the UK as the Government of India is not party to the processThe Centre had earlier given details of the extradition proceedings against Mallya starting from February 9 2017 till dismissal of his appeal against extradition in UK on May 14 last year and said that he has thus exhausted all avenues of appeal in the UKThe Centre had said that following the refusal of leave to appeal Mallyas surrender to India should in principle have been completed within 28 days but the UK home office intimated that there is a further legal issue which needs to be resolved before Vijay Mallyas extradition may take place PTI ABA SA
