Tells him to appear on July 10 to argue on quantum of punishment
Liquor baron Vijay Mallya was arrested and released on bail last month in the UK. Pic/PTI
The Supreme Court yesterday held businessman Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt of court for transferring $40 million to his children in violation of the court's order.
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The apex court directed Mallya, who is currently in the UK, to appear before it on July 10 to argue on the quantum of punishment in the matter.
India had recently asked Britain to ensure early extradition of Mallya, who is an accused in a bank loan default case of over R9,000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines.
"We have found respondent number 3 (Mallya) guilty of contempt of court on two grounds," a bench of Justices AK Goel and UU Lalit said.
The order came on a plea by consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India, which had said Mallya had allegedly transferred $40 million received from British firm Diageo to his children in "flagrant violation" of various judicial orders.
The apex court had on March 9 asked the liquor baron about the "truthfulness" of his disclosure of assets and the transfer of money to his children.
The bench had reserved its order on two pleas of lending banks seeking contempt action and a direction to Mallya to deposit $40 million received from offshore firm Diageo, respectively.
The banks have alleged that Mallya concealed the facts and diverted the money to his son, Siddharth Mallya, and daughters, Leanna Mallya and Tanya Mallya, in "flagrant violation" of the orders passed by the Karnataka High Court.
Mallya's counsel, CS Vaidyanathan, said the money which came from Diageo belonged to his children and not Mallya.
$400mn Amount Mallya transferred to his three kids in violation of court order
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