New Delhi:
The Supreme Court may pronounce quantam of sentence in the contempt case against fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Friday. Mallya had failed to appear before the Apex court despite the later directed to do so.
On Monday, A bench comprising of Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit had scheduled the case for hearing on July 14 and had sought the assistance of the Solicitor General, Ranjit Kumar in the case.
The apex court had on May 9 held Mallya, who is presently in the United Kingdom, guilty of contempt on a plea by the consortium of lender banks, led by the State Bank of India, for his failure to furnish details of all his Indian as well as offshore assets.
It had directed Mallya to appear before it today to argue on the quantum of punishment.
The offence of contempt of court entails a maximum imprisonment of up to six months or a fine of upto Rs 2,000 or both.
#ExpectedToday: SC to pronounce quantum of sentence against #VijayMallya in connection with the contempt of court case. pic.twitter.com/iStNhFfCVz
— ANI (@ANI_news) July 14, 2017
India had recently asked Britain to ensure early extradition of Mallya, who is an accused in a bank loan default case of over Rs 9,000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines.
The apex court’s order had come on a plea by the consortium of banks, led by the State Bank of India (SBI), which had said that Mallya had allegedly transferred USD 40 million received from British firm Diageo to his children in “flagrant violation” of various judicial orders.
The banks had argued before the court that Mallya had wilfully disobeyed the orders and made “vague” disclosure about his assets.
Also Read: Vijay Mallya steps down as India's top representative to FIA
