MALLYA TO BE DECLARED PO
NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Wednesday initiated the process to declare beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya as a proclaimed offender for allegedly evading summons in a FERA violation case.
It has now given him the last opportunity to appear before the court by December 18.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Shehrawat directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to take appropriate steps while initiating the process.
The court passed the order after ED’S Special Public Prosecutor N K Matta informed it that the open-ended nonbailable warrant (NBW) issued earlier against Mallya has been returned as unexecuted and the agency has no other option but to initiate the process under Section 82 and 83 of CRPC.
The agency is likely to take various steps, including publishing in newspapers regarding the matter.
The court had on April 12 issued an open-ended NBW against the liquor baron.
An ‘open-ended NBW’ does not carry a time limit for execution unlike ‘NBW’.
On November 4 last year, while issuing non-bailable warrant against Mallya, the court had observed that he had no inclination to return and had scant regard for the law of the land.
It had said that coercive process has to be initiated against liquor baron Mallya as he was facing proceedings in several cases and evading appearance in those matters.
The court had also held that Mallya’s plea, that he wanted to return to India but was “incapacitated” to travel as his passport had been revoked by Indian authorities, was “malafide” and “abuse of the process of law”.
Mallya, who is reportedly in London, had submitted before the court on September 9 that he wanted to come back to India but was “incapacitated” to travel despite “best intentions” as his passport had been revoked.
On July 9, the court had cancelled the exemption from personal appearance granted to Mallya and directed him to appear before it on September 9.
The exemption from personal appearance to Mallya was granted in December 2000 on ED’S complaint for evading summons issued by it.
The agency had issued summons to the businessman in connection with alleged payment of USD 200,000 to a British firm for displaying Kingfisher logo in Formula One World Championships in London and some European countries in 1996, 1997 and 1998.
It had claimed that the money was allegedly paid without prior approval from the RBI in violation of FERA norms.
In its plea against Mallya, ED had also sought issuance of non-bailable warrant against the Chairman of the defunct Kingfisher Airlines to secure his presence in the ongoing trial of the case, which is at the final stage. SRINAGAR: The Centre’s special representative for Kashmir, Dineshwar Sharma, on Wednesday met former chief minister Omar Abdullah who asked him to remove the misunderstanding created by some statements from the power corridors in Delhi. Sharma, a former Intelligence Bureau chief, began the day’s engagements by calling on Omar Abdullah at his residence and discussed matters and issues concerning the state and steps required for lasting peace.
“We discussed the prevailing situation in the state, as also steps that can be taken to make his visits to the state more meaningful,” Omar Abdullah said after the meeting while making it clear that he had met Sharma in his individual capacity. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said that Sharma came and conveyed to him about the task he had been given by the government.
“He sought my views on how to carry out his task in a right way. How he would make his mission more successful.
Whatever I told him is between us. I hope he would implement the suggestions that I put forward before him over expanding the sphere of talks because if you would continue waiting in a guest house for people, then this process won’t work,” Omar Abdullah said.
He expressed hope that Sharma would move around the Valley as “all of us want that this issue is resolved through dialogue so that people here spend their lives in peace and calm environment.”