The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directly questioned fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya about his plans to return to India. The court informed his legal team that it refuses to listen to his plea against the Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEO) Act until he physically returns and places himself under the court's authority.
Mallya, who has lived in the United Kingdom since 2016, currently has two legal requests before the high court. The first urges the court to cancel the order that officially labelled him a "fugitive economic offender," and the second argues that the 2018 FEO Act itself is unconstitutional.
During the hearing, a judicial bench consisting of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad told Mallya’s lawyer, Amit Desai, that the court’s doors are not open for these arguments as long as Mallya remains abroad. They insisted that the 70-year-old former liquor tycoon, who faces serious charges of fraud and money laundering, must first show up in person before his legal complaints can be considered.
Representing the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Solicitor General Tushar Mehta strongly argued against Mallya's petitions. He stated that people who flee the country should not be allowed to fight the validity of Indian laws through lawyers while hiding from the justice system.
Mehta explained that the FEO Act was created specifically to stop people from avoiding trial while simultaneously using the legal system to their advantage. He also noted that the process to bring Mallya back to India through extradition is currently in its final stages.
The court further noted that it would not allow Mallya to pursue both petitions at the same time.
The judges asked the former head of Kingfisher Airlines to choose one to move forward with and withdraw the other.
In his defence, Mallya’s lawyer argued that his client’s financial debts have essentially been resolved. He pointed out that the government has frozen assets worth ₹14,000 crore, and banks have already recovered ₹6,000 crore of what was owed. However, the judges remained firm, questioning how criminal charges could ever be cleared if the accused person refuses to stand before a judge.
The high court has scheduled the next hearing for 12 February. By that date, Mallya must officially tell the court which of his two legal challenges he wants to continue. Mallya left India in March 2016 after being accused of failing to pay back massive loans. He was officially declared a Fugitive Economic Offender in early 2019.
ED restores ₹300 crore for former employees of Kingfisher Airlines
On 18 December, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said that it had successfully recovered more than ₹300 crore to pay the long-overdue salaries of former employees of the closed Kingfisher Airlines.
This recovery was made possible by a 12 December order from the Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in Chennai. The tribunal directed the release of money earned from selling company shares. These shares had been previously seized by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and handed over to the State Bank of India (SBI).
The total amount, which comes to ₹311.67 crore, will now be sent to an official liquidator. This official is responsible for the final step: distributing the money directly to the former workers who have been waiting for their pay for years.
The ED originally took action against the airline and its owner, Vijay Mallya, because of a massive bank loan fraud case. To fix the damage caused by the fraud, the agency created a pool of seized assets. This current payout to workers is being funded directly from that pool.
