SC to hear Vijay Mallya’s review plea on transfer of $40 million to his children

India's Supreme Court is set to hear the fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya's plea on August 20. The economic fugitive has sought a review of the apex court's order in 2017 which held him in contempt of court for transferring USD 40 million to his children. The matter came up on Thursday before a bench comprising of Justices UU Lalit and Ashok Bhushan, which adjourned the hearing to August 20 as one of the documents was not available. 

In June this year, the Supreme Court had questioned the registry to explain why Mallya's petition had not been listed before the court for the last three years. It had also directed the registry to furnish all the details including names of officials who had dealt with the file concerning the review petition in the last three years. 

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'Flagrant Violation'

The Indian businessman, who owned the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, has sought asylum in the United Kingdom. The apex court's order in 2017 had come on a plea by a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) which had alleged that Mallya had transferred USD 40 million to his children in violation of the order. Mallya has also been accused in a bank loan default case amounting to over Rs 9,000 crores. 

The banks had then alleged that Mallya concealed the facts and diverted the money to his son Siddharth Mallya and daughters Leanna Mallya and Tanya Mallya in “flagrant violation” of the orders passed by the Karnataka High Court.

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India seeks Mallya's extradition

Vijay Mallya has been in the United Kingdom since March 2016 and remains on bail on an extradition warrant executed three years ago by Scotland Yard on April 18, 2017. The High Court verdict in April upheld the 2018 ruling by Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot at the end of a year-long extradition trial in December 2018 that Vijay Mallya had a "case to answer" in the Indian courts.

The Indian government has been seeking the extradition of the wanted fugitive. The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday, June 11 informed that India has asked the United Kingdom not to consider any request for asylum by fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya as there appeared to be no ground for his persecution in the country. The UK government indicated that Mallya is unlikely to be extradited to India anytime soon, saying there is a "legal issue that needed to be resolved" before his extradition can be arranged.

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