SC to decide on Fugitive Economic Offender tag for Vijay Mallya, Fali Nariman appears

The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a petition by Vijay Mallya challenging the proceedings to declare him a Fugitive Economic Offender and confiscate his properties..A Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Sanjay Kishan Kaul, heard Senior Advocate Fali Nariman who appeared for Mallya before issuing notice to ED..However, the Court refused to stay the proceedings against Mallya before the PMLA Tribunal..The ED had initiated proceedings in PMLA Tribunal to declare Mallya as a Fugitive Economic Offender under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018. The ED had also sought for the immediate confiscation of Mallya’s properties..Mallya challenged the PMLA proceedings in the Bombay High Court, seeking a stay on the same. It was his argument that such a declaration and consequent confiscation of properties will hamper the clearance of dues to creditors..A Division Bench of the High Court had, however, rejected the same in November this year. The High Court dismissed Mallya’s plea stating that it is premature and that the lower court is considering the prosecuting agency’s request..This led to the current appeal in Supreme Court..On a related note, last Wednesday Mallya took to Twitter to say that he will “pay 100% back” the public money that he owes to the banks. In the meanwhile, a UK court is set to give a ruling on Mallya’s plea against being extradited to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering against him on December 10..The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act got the President’s nod in August this year. This law allows special courts to declare persons involved in economic offences worth Rs 100 crores or more a Fugitive Economic Offender, and confiscate their properties, including benami properties. It intends to prevent such persons from evading the legal process..Image taken from here.