SC summons Mallya in contempt case

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday summoned former liquor baron Vijay Mallya to appear in person on October 5 in connection with a contempt of Court case where sentence against him is yet to be pronounced. The order convicting him of contempt was passed three years ago on May 9, 2017 and the hearing on punishment got delayed as Mallya filed a review petition in the top court.

Dismissing his review petition on Monday, a bench of justices UU Lalit and Ashok Bhushan said, “In our considered view, the attempt on part of the respondent No.3 to have re-hearing in the matter cannot be permitted nor do the submissions make out any “error apparent on record” to justify interference in review jurisdiction.”

As a consequence, the bench directed the contempt petition to be listed on October 5 and summoned Mallya’s personal presence on that day. The order said, “We direct respondent No.3 (Vijay Mallya) to appear before this Court on October 5, 2020 at 2 pm and also direct the ministry of home affairs, Government of India, to facilitate and ensure the presence of respondent No.3 before this Court on that day.”

The Court ordered a copy of its judgment to be sent to the home ministry for compliance.

The contempt proceedings against Mallya arose out of a debt recovery tribunal proceeding where a consortium of banks led by State Bank of India demanded outstanding dues of ₹6203 crore against Mallya and his companies. Over the years, coupled with interest, this amount had crossed ₹9000 crore. from London.