SC sentences Vijay Mallya to four months jail, asks him to deposit $40 mn

The Supreme Court on Monday sentenced fugitive businessman Vijay Malya to four months in jail and fined him Rs 2,000 for contempt in connection with cases filed after he failed to repay debt owed to lenders led by State Bank of India.

The court asked directed Mallya and his son Siddharth to pay back $40 million with 8 per cent interest for repayment of the loan. Mallya’s properties will be attached if he fails to make the payment.

Mallya is on bail in London, where he has been fighting extradition to India following his arrest in the UK capital in 2017. He was found guilty by the Supreme Court in 2017 for violating court by transferring $40 million to his children and failing to fully disclose his assets.

He is accused of transferring the loan to his family members in violation of court orders in 2015. A Supreme Court bench of Justices U Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat and PS Narasimha said Mallya showed no remorse and that appropriate punishment was necessary in this case.

The Supreme Court in February gave Mallya gave two weeks to personally present himself or let his lawyer appear in the contempt case.

The court that month accepted the contention of senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, who is assisting the court in the matter, that on the issue of quantum of sentence Mallya was given the last opportunity to make his stand in the case.

The court said in 2021 it has waited “long enough” and cannot “wait longer now” for Mallya to be extradited from the UK to India.

Mallya, whose empire once comprised liquor, a cricket franchise and Formula One team, lost his fortune after a severe cash crunch at Kingfisher Airlines Ltd., the full-service carrier he founded in 2005 and was grounded seven years later. He left India for London in 2016.

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