No good times for Vijay Mallya as SC agrees to hear proceedings on fugitive economic offender tag

The ED approached the special court seeking to declare the London-based industrialist a fugitive economic offender under the Fugitive Economic Offender Act 2018.

Mallya has denied all the allegations made against him and termed it false in a series of tweets. (Image: AFP)

New Delhi: Once ‘king of good time’, Vijay Mallya seems to have a bitter calendar year as the Supreme Court of India on Friday denied his plea of putting a stay on the proceedings initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The proceeding against Mallya was filed by the ED to declare him a fugitive economic offender and confiscate his properties. According to a report by PTI, a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice S K Kaul sought the probe agency's response on the plea. The ED approached the special court seeking to declare the London-based industrialist a fugitive economic offender under the Fugitive Economic Offender Act 2018. Though the apex court issued a notice on Mallya’s plea but refused to stay proceedings before the Mumbai special court. Recently, the Bombay High Court dismissed Mallya's appeal. The industrialist has filed an appeal against the High Court order. Earlier in July this year, the ED had filed a plea before a special PMLA court, seeking the “fugitive economic offender also sought to confiscate around Rs 12,500 crores worth of assets of Mallya immediately. Responding to ED’s acquisition, Mallya's counsel had told the division bench that his pleas should not be misunderstood as a ploy to run away from proceedings. “We are also anxious to clear dues and to see to it that creditors get their dues back. We don't want properties to be seized by the Enforcement Directorate, which would then hamper process of clearance of dues,” his counsel had said. However, the High Court had said that it was not at all inclined to grant any relief to the liquor baron. “The application has been filed at the threshold and at a very premature stage when the lower court is still hearing the prosecuting agency's request to declare him (Mallya) a fugitive economic offender,” the court had said in its order. However, Mallya on Wednesday denied all the allegations made against him and termed it false in a series of tweets. He also offered to pay back 100 per cent of the principal amount against his now-defunct Kingfisher Airline owed to various banks in India.