India’s apex court has postponed the hearing of a plea by liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya, who is seeking a stay on the proceedings initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to declare him a “fugitive economic offender” and confiscate his assets.
The Supreme Court said that the matter would be heard after the court's recess for the festival of colours "Holi" after 10 March.
India’s top economic intelligence agency the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had initiated a probe to seize Mallya's assets to recover the debts.
Mallya filed the case against ED and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Supreme Court and said that the agencies are being unreasonable with him and blamed ED for attaching his assets.
“I should be where my family is. Yes, I have an interest in India. CBI & ED have been unreasonable, all they have been doing to me over the past 4 years is totally unreasonable. I request the banks with folded hands to take 100% of their principal back immediately. ED attached assets on complaints of banks. I have not committed any offences under PMLA that ED can attach my assets. Now I am saying, please banks take your money", the news agency ANI quoted him as saying on Thursday to the press in the UK.
Mallya said he is planning to pay the banks in full.
In 2016, Mallya escaped to London with Indian law enforcement authorities on his trail after a state-owned bank declared that he owed several million rupees.
India has been seeking Mallya’s extradition from the UK to face a criminal trial in the country for failing to repay a loan of Rs.90 billion ($1.28 billion). Earlier in 2018, a consortium of 13 Indian banks, led by the State Bank of India (SBI), initiated loan recovery proceedings against him in an Indian court.
In 2019, the UK ordered the extradition of Mallya but he managed to obtain a reprieve from the courts and remains in London.