Declared a proclaimed offender by the Indian authorities and now living in London, liquor baron Vijay Mallya failed to get any relief from the Delhi High Court which on Friday asked him to appear before the trial court in a number of cheque-bounce cases filed against him by Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL).
A Bench of Justice P.S. Teji held Mr. Mallya liable to be prosecuted for a bounced cheque as he was in charge of Kingfisher Airlines and responsible for its day-to-day affairs.
Move to quash summons
Mr. Mallya had moved the High Court to quash the summons issued to him by a trial court following a complaint made by DIAL. In one of the cases, a cheque for Rs. 1 crore issued by Kingfisher Airlines to DIAL was returned in 2012 for insufficient funds. “It is not in dispute that the cheques in question were issued by the said company and he being its chairman and managing director was responsible for the conduct of business of the company,” Justice Teji said.
Counsel for Mr. Mallya had earlier told the court that he was not involved in the day-to-day affairs of Kingfisher Airlines and therefore, he could not be held liable in the cases.
