India seeks fugitive offender tag for Mallya; ED moves court to confiscate Rs 12,500-cr assets

In the government’s first move to crackdown against big bank loan defaulters under a new law, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday moved a court against liquor baron Vijay Mallya, seeking to confiscate his assets and declare him a ‘fugitive offender’.

The agency approached a Mumbai court under the recently promulgated Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance, officials said.

The fugitive ordinance was brought into effect as “there have been instances of economic offenders fleeing the jurisdiction of Indian courts, anticipating the commencement, or during the pendency, of criminal proceedings,” the government said.

The new law empowers the court to confiscate all assets of an absconding loan defaulter.

The application filed in the court accessed by PTI seeks to immediately confiscate about Rs 12,500 crore assets of Mallya and his companies, both movable and immovable.

The ED has provided proofs in its two charge sheets, filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the past, to make a case for seeking a fugitive offender tag for Mallya from the court.

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Mallya is contesting these money laundering charges in London as part of India’s efforts to extradite him from there and face the legal system here in connection with an overall alleged loan default of over Rs 9,000 crore of various banks.

The ED, according to the existing law under the PMLA, can confiscate the assets only after the trial in a case finishes.

The Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 12 but couldn’t be taken up due to a logjam in Parliament over different issues. With Parliament being adjourned sine die, an ordinance was proposed.

The Union Cabinet on April 21 approved the ordinance and the President gave his assent to the promulgation of the same a day later.

The ordinance makes provisions for special courts under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 to declare a person as a fugitive economic offender and order immediate confiscation of assets.

“A Fugitive Economic Offender is a person against whom an arrest warrant has been issued in respect of a scheduled offence and who has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution, or being abroad, refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution,” the government said.

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Cases of frauds, cheque dishonour or loan default of over Rs 100 crore would come under the ambit of this ordinance.

The ordinance offers necessary constitutional safeguards in terms of providing hearing to the person through counsel, allowing him time to file a reply, serving notice of summons to him, whether in India or abroad and appeal before the high court.

(With inputs from PTI)