Vijay Mallya on Saturday became the first businessman to be charged under the new
fugitive law. A special PMLA court declared Mallya a fugitive economic offender, which means his properties can now be confiscated by the government, said an ANI report.
The anti-corruption court was hearing an application by the Enforcement Directorate, seeking a direction to declare Mallya a fugitive economic offender.
The ED had filed an application in July before the court, seeking the “fugitive economic offender” tag for Mallya under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018. The ED had also sought immediate confiscation of about Rs 12,500 crore worth of assets.
Mallya sought a stay on the hearing of the ED’s plea but it was turned down by the special court on October 30. Mallya then appealed in the Bombay High Court, which on November 22 dismissed his plea seeking a stay on the ED’s request to declare him a fugitive economic offender and confiscate his properties.
ET was the first to report in September that probe agencies were not willing to accept Vijay Mallya’s offer to pay lenders.
“Mallya’s offer is nothing but a charade to evade court proceedings… If Mallya succeeds in this settlement offer, he will try to project that he has done nothing wrong and has come clean. This will deter proceedings pending against him,” a senior official had told ET.
A fugitive economic offender is any individual against whom warrants for arrest is issued for his involvement in select economic offences involving amount of at least Rs 100 crore or more and has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution.