Guwahati: The Supreme Court sentenced fugitive liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya to four months in prison and a fine of Rs 2000 for a 2017 contempt of court case.
Mallya was found guilty of contempt for giving his children $40 million against court instructions. The court ordered that the fine be paid to the Supreme Court legal services authority within four weeks or else an additional two-month term will be added.
Judges stated, “We must administer sufficient punishment in order to protect the majesty of justice.
The highest court also ruled that Mallya’s 40-million-dollar transfer to his children was “void and inoperable,” and it commanded the recipients to return the money to the recovery officer with 8% interest within four weeks. Mallya’s properties may be seized if the money is not reimbursed.
The court ruling stated, “The government of India and other agencies should help in the process. If this is not deposited, the recovery officer might take appropriate proceedings for recovery of the abovementioned sum.”
The order was passed by a bench of Justices UU Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat and PS Narasimha.
A group of banks, led by the State Bank of India (SBI), filed a petition asking for Mallya to be held in contempt of court and ordered to deposit the $40 million he received from the offshore company Diageo.
They said that the liquor tycoon hid the truth and violated the Karnataka High Court’s rulings by giving the money to his children Siddharth Mallya, Leanna Mallya, and Tanya Mallya.
Mallya is a defendant in a bank loan default case involving his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines that totals more than 9,000 crore rupees. Mallya had been in the UK since his conviction in March 2016.
Mallya’s extradition from the UK has been approved, but the Centre previously notified the court that he could not be transferred to India because of “secret” processes that are ongoing there against him, the specifics of which it is not aware.