ED wants Mallya’s passport revoked

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday sought revocation of embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s passport, mounting pressure on the sitting Rajya Sabha MP who owes more than ` 9,200 crore to a group of banks in India.

Mallya left India on March 2 as creditor banks closed in to recover the huge loan amount owed by his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Mallya ignored three summons to appear before ED but claimed in a tweet he would abide by the law.

Sources said the ED approached the passport office in Mumbai on Wednesday seeking revocation of Mallya’s passport in a Rs900crore IDBI bank loan fraud case. “A passport is a valid document to stay in a foreign country and with its revocation, he will not be able to stay [wherever he is],” said a source.

Officials said the agency has also written to the external affairs ministry to take action under the Passport Act, 1967, and ask the passport office in Delhi to revoke his diplomatic passport as he has turned out to be “un-cooperative” with its investigators. Mallya is understood to have left for UK on his diplomatic passport though his exact whereabouts are not known.

Once the passport is revoked, ED has the option to approach a court for a non-bailable warrant against him and also ask the Interpol to issue a red corner notice that will facilitate his arrest anywhere across the globe.

CONTINUED ON P12

Vijay Mallya: Currently in UK