Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya informed the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that he cannot give a definite date on which he will return to India from the United Kingdom..This statement from Mallya came in response to a query by the Court about his return to the country, while hearing his petition challenging the validity of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act of 2018 (FEO Act). A Bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad reiterated that if Mallya wants the Court to consider his petition, he should return to India.In response, Mallya stated that he cannot give a definite date as he does not have his Indian passport, which was revoked by the Indian government in 2016. Further, he revealed that orders of a British court prohibit him from leaving the country. “He is not permitted to leave or attempt to leave England and Wales or apply for or be in possession of any international travel document. In any event, the petitioner is unable to precisely state when he will return to India,” Mallya’s counsel, Senior Advocate Amit Desai, read out the statement in court. .Desai also stressed that Mallya’s presence is not required in the country for the Court to hear his petition challenging the vires of the FEO Act.Mallya also filed an appeal challenging the order of the trial court declaring him a fugitive. “If I (Mallya) were to appear (in India), then all these proceedings are irrelevant. Because the section of the statute says that if you appear in the country, then all these orders will be set aside. That is the statute itself. Therefore, I am rendered remedy-less either by an appeal or in a writ if I am challenging the vires”, Desai argued. .The Bench asked the Central government to file its reply to this statement within a week, and posted the matter for hearing in the second week of March 2026. During the hearing today, Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta said that the Central government had filed an affidavit in response to Mallya’s affidavit, which spoke about his alleged dues to the government and how the government had recovered most of it from his assets in India.Mehta said that Mallya had been absconding since March 2, 2016 and was declared a fugitive offender by a competent court on January 5, 2019.The SG raised apprehensions that since the Indian government had initiated extradition proceedings, which are now at an advanced stage, Mallya could misuse his affidavit here and the pending court proceedings in the extradition proceedings. The Court, however, clarified that Mehta could not use his petition or any arising proceedings in the extradition proceedings, something which it recorded in its previous orders. .Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.
