Special court grants Vijay Mallya three weeks to reply to ED's notice

Mumbai, Sep 3: A Special Court on Monday (September 3) granted Vijay Mallya's lawyer three weeks to file reply to Enforcement Directorate's notice. Mallya's counsel should file reply by September 24, after which the court will decide the course of hearing.

Liquor baron Vijay Mallya's lawyer earlier today sought time to file his reply on Enforcement Directorate's notice, even as the ED's counsel argued that no more time can be given.

Mallya's lawyer contended that he had not recieved some of the notices despite him having shared his Mauritius address with the ED, reported ANI.

ED lawyer argued that, as per law, no more time can be given to Mallya to respond on the application, adding that even the Court is powerless to give time beyond one week as mandated by Fugitive Offenders law.

ED had earlier moved the court to get Mallya declared a fugitive economic offender under the new law. The court, had on June 30, had issued notice to Vijay Mallya to appear before it on August 27 after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) charged the liquor baron under the new law as it enlarged its money laundering probe against him and others in a RS 9,000 alleged bank fraud case.

The central probe agency has also sought immediate confiscation of assets worth about Rs 12,500 crore of Mallya as part of this latest action.

Mallya, however, did not appear on August 27 and reportedly authorised legal representative to submit a reply to the court of special PMLA judge M S Azmi as part of his official response to the notice.

According to reports, the agency charged in its application that Mallya "had no intention to repay the loans from the start and though he and Ms UBHL (United Breweries Holdings Limited) had substantial assets that were sufficient to repay the loans, they intentionally withheld the details from the banks."

It alleged that a "criminal conspiracy was hatched from inception" by Mallya and his firms to obtain loans in "gross violation" of established procedures.

"The investigation under PMLA also revealed several instances of diversion of funds at the behest and for the benefit of Mallya through Ms Kingfisher Airlines," it had said.

The agency said it has attached assets worth over Rs8,040 crore of Mallya and others under the PMLA in the past.

A fugitive economic offender is a person against whom an arrest warrant has been issued in respect of a scheduled offence and who has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution, or being abroad, refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution," the government had said, as per a PTI report.