Delhi court orders attachment of Vijay Mallya's properties in Bengaluru

A Delhi court has ordered attachment of embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya's properties in Bengaluru in a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FERA) violation case, PTI reported.

According to the agency report, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Sherawat issued fresh directions after the Bengaluru Police, through Enforcement Directorate's special public prosecutor N K Matta and advocate Samvedna Verma, sought more time to execute its earlier order in this regard.

Fugitive Vijay Mallya, who remains on bail on an extradition warrant in the UK, is wanted in India on alleged fraud and money laundering charges amounting to an estimated Rs 9,000 crore.

The court has reportedly directed the state police to attach Mallya's properties by July 10, the next date of hearing.

Also Read: Will Vijay Mallya be extradited before or after general elections?

The 63-year-old businessman has been declared a proclaimed offender by the court on January 4 last year for evading its summons in the case.

As per agency report, the Bengaluru Police had earlier informed the court that it had identified 159 properties belonging to the businessman, but had not been able to attach any of them.

Earlier on April 12, 2017, the Court had issued an open-ended non-bailable warrant (NBW) against the liquor baron. An open-ended non-bailable warrant does not carry a time limit for execution, unlike other non-bailable warrants.

Also Read: Vijay Mallya seeks UK court permission to appeal against extradition order

Last month, the Delhi court sent corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar with alleged links to Vijay Mallya to 14-day judicial custody in a money laundering case. Deepak Talwar, who was extradited from Dubai along with Dubai-based businessman Rajeev Saxena, had alleged links with Mallya in a money laundering case pertaining to the negotiations favoring foreign private airlines, causing loss to Air India, the ED had reported.

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar