The Bombay High Court said it will not hear Vijay Mallya’s plea challenging his fugitive status and the FEO Act unless he returns to India. The court has asked him to file an affidavit clarifying whether he is willing to come back, while the Centre opposed hearing the case in his absence
-1770886769227_d.png "Bombay HC refuses to hear Vijay Mallya’s plea against fugitive tag until he returns to India")
Vijay Mallya. File Pic
The Bombay High Court on Thursday made it clear that it will not hear fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya’s petitions challenging the Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEO) Act unless he returns to India.
A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad said Mallya must first clarify whether he is willing to come back. “You have to come back… if you cannot come back then we cannot hear this plea,” the court said as per PTI reports.
Court seeks clear stand from Mallya
Mallya, who has been living in the UK since 2016, has filed two petitions before the High Court. One challenges the order declaring him a fugitive economic offender, and the other questions the constitutional validity of the 2018 FEO Act.
The court posted the matter for further hearing on February 18 and said it was giving Mallya another opportunity to state clearly if he is ready to return to India. “We may have to record that you are avoiding the process of the court. You cannot take benefit of the proceedings. In all fairness to you, we are not dismissing the petition but giving you another opportunity,” the bench observed.
The court had taken a similar stand during the previous hearing in December 2025 and had asked Mallya’s lawyer to clarify his position.
On Thursday, the bench directed Mallya to file an affidavit clearly stating whether he would return to India.
“When will you come? You have already argued that you are entitled to a hearing without your physical presence in a court of law. But first file an affidavit clearly stating so,” Chief Justice Chandrashekhar said.
Senior counsel Amit Desai, appearing for Mallya, argued that there are judgments which allow such petitions to be heard even if the petitioner is not physically present in court.
Centre opposes Mallya’s plea
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, opposed the plea. He said Mallya cannot challenge the provisions of the FEO Act after being declared a fugitive under it. “He can come to India first and then it can be seen whether he is liable or not liable to pay. He cannot not trust the law of the country,” Mehta argued as per PTI reports.
Mehta also informed the court that extradition proceedings against Mallya in London were in their final stages. He suggested that Mallya may have filed the petitions anticipating his possible extradition. The solicitor general further said that in his affidavit, Mallya has claimed that banks were wrong to demand money from him.
Background
Mallya, 70, is facing multiple cases in India related to fraud and money laundering. He was declared a Fugitive Economic Offender in January 2019 by a special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
He is accused of defaulting on several loan repayments and left India in March 2016. His properties in India have already been attached by enforcement agencies, his lawyer told the court. For now, the High Court has made it clear that it will not proceed with hearing his petitions unless he gives a clear statement about returning to India.
(With PTI Inputs)
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