New Twist In Mallya Case As Documents Go Missing From Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned its hearing till August 20 the petition filed by businessman Vijay Mallya after one of the documents pertaining to the case was not available on the record. Mallya has sought review of its 2017 order holding him guilty of contempt of court for transferring USD 40 million to his children.

A bench comprising Justices U U Lalit and Ashok Bhushan was hearing the case through video-conference.

Earlier in June, the SC had directed its registry to explain as to why Mallya's review petition had not been listed before the concerned court for the last three years. It asked its registry to furnish all the details including names of officials who had dealt with the file.

On May 9, 2017, the fugitive businessman who is presently in the UK since 2016 was held guilty of contempt of court for transferring USD 40 million to his children in violation of the order.

The apex court’s 2017 order had come on a plea by 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. It was dealing with pleas of lending banks seeking contempt action and a direction to Mallya to deposit USD 40 million received from offshore firm Diageo respectively.

Mallya is an accused in a bank loan default case of over Rs 9,000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines. Mallya remains on bail on an extradition warrant executed three years ago by Scotland Yard on April 18, 2017.