Supreme Court awards Vijay Mallya 4 months in jail, Rs 2,000 fine

The Supreme Court on Monday sentenced fugitive industrialist Vijay Mallya to four months of imprisonment and Rs 2,000 fine for contempt of court. The apex court bench also directed Mallya to deposit $40 million with interest within four weeks, failing which would lead to attachment of his property. 

According to a report by Bar and Bench, the judgment was delivered by Justices Uday Umesh Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat and PS Narasimha. 

The contempt case against Mallya is in connection with the bank loan default of Rs 9,000 crore, involving Kingfisher Airlines. The court had found the liquor baron guilty of contempt of court in 2017 for wilfully disobeying its orders. The case involved a petition filed by a consortium of creditors led by State Bank of India (SBI). 

Mallya has been accused of transferring funds into the accounts of other persons in violation of the court’s orders along with making ‘vague and unclear’ disclosures about his assets, according to the report. 

The consortium had alleged that Mallya diverted money to his son Siddharth Mallya and daughters Leanna and Tanya Mallya in violation of the orders by the Karnataka High Court. 

Mallya was also directed to be present before the court for his sentencing but he failed to appear as he had already left the country by then. 

Also read: Vijay Mallya pursues reversal of bankruptcy order in UK