The Bombay High Court on Wednesday was informed that fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya cannot specify when he will return to India as he is legally barred from leaving the United Kingdom and does not possess a valid passport.
The statement was submitted through senior counsel Amit Desai before a division bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad, which had earlier made it clear that it would not hear Mallya’s challenge to his declaration as a fugitive economic offender unless he returned to India.
In his written statement, Mallya said his Indian passport was revoked in 2016 and that courts in England and Wales have restrained him from leaving the country or applying for any international travel document.
Desai told the court that Mallya is “not permitted to leave or attempt to leave England and Wales or apply for or be in possession of any international travel document” and therefore cannot give a definite timeline for returning to India.
Mallya has filed two petitions before the High Court:
- one challenging the special court order declaring him a Fugitive Economic Offender under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, and
- another questioning the constitutional validity of the Act itself.
Desai argued that Mallya’s physical presence in India was not necessary for the High Court to hear these petitions. He submitted that if Mallya were to appear before the Indian court, the proceedings challenging the fugitive declaration would become infructuous because the statute provides that such orders cease once the person appears before the competent court.
Last week, the bench had asked Mallya to clarify whether he intended to return to India and had indicated that his plea would not be taken up unless he did so. The present statement was filed in response to that direction.
Mallya, who has been in the United Kingdom since March 2016, was declared a Fugitive Economic Offender in January 2019 by a special PMLA court. He faces multiple cases involving alleged loan defaults running into several thousand crore rupees and charges of fraud and money laundering.
The High Court has directed the Union government to file its response to Mallya’s statement and posted the matter for further hearing next month.
