A Delhi court on Wednesday initiated the process of declaring beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya as a proclaimed offender on the charge of evading summons in a FERA violation case. reported that the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Shehrawat directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to take appropriate steps for initiating the process.
The court passed the order after the ED’s Special Public Prosecutor, N K Matta, informed that the 'open-ended non-bailable warrant' (NBW) issued against Mr. Mallya was returned as unexecuted and there was no other option but to initiate the process under Section 82 and 83 of CrPC.
The agency is likely to take steps, like publishing in newspapers, regarding this matter.
When an NBW was issued against Vijay Mallya on 4th November last year, the court had observed that he had no intention to return and had no regard for the law of the land. It said that coercive process had to be initiated against Mr. Mallya as he was facing proceedings in several cases and evading appearance in those matters. The court also stated that Mr. Mallya’s plea that he wanted to return to India but was “incapacitated” to travel as his passport was revoked by Indian authorities was mala fide and “abuse of the process of law."
The ED had issued summons to the businessman in connection with the alleged payment of $ 200,000 to a British firm for displaying the Kingfisher logo in Formula One World Championships in London and some European countries in 1996, 1997 and 1998. It had claimed that the money was allegedly paid without prior approval from the RBI in violation of FERA norms.
The court has now given him the last opportunity to appear before it by December 18.
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