The Supreme Court has awarded a 4-month jail sentence and imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, who was found guilty of contempt of court in 2017 for withholding information from the court.
Mallya, who is based in Britain for over five years, on Monday expressed his disappointment at the Supreme Court verdict.
According to LiveLaw, the court said that Mallya did not show any remorseful conduct and did not appear before it during his sentence hearing.
The court has directed Mallya to deposit $40 million with an 8 percent interest pithing four weeks. Failure to do so would led to attachment proceedings being initiated against Mallya’s properties, the court added.
The court furthered that an adequate sentence must be imposed on Mallya to “uphold the majesty of law” and that directions will need to be issued to ensure that the disputed amount is available.
A bench of Justices UU Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat and PS Narasimha proceeded in the absence of Mallya, who had absconded to the United Kingdom.
Earlier, the Union informed the court that even though Mallya’s extradition from the UK has been allowed, he could not be brought to India in view of some “secret” proceedings pending against him, the LiveLaw report added.
The apex court had in 2020 dismissed Mallya's plea seeking review of the 2017 verdict which held him guilty of contempt for transferring money to his children, in violation of court orders.
Mallya is an accused in a bank loan default matter of over Rs 9,000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines.
The apex court had in 2020 dismissed Mallya's plea seeking a review of the May 2017 verdict.
Mallya has been living in the United Kingdom since March 2016. He is on bail on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard on April 18, 2017.
A consortium of lending banks led by the State Bank of India had moved the apex court alleging that Mallya was not following the court orders on repayment of the loan which was then over Rs 9,000 crore.
Naturally Disappointed, Says Mallya
The 66-year-old UK-based businessman did not comment further on the verdict handed down by a top court bench headed by Justice UU Lalit earlier on Monday.
"I have no comment on the Indian Supreme Court verdict except to say that I am naturally disappointed,” Mallya told PTI.
(With inputs from LiveLaw and PTI)
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