A Delhi court on Thursday declared businessman Vijay Mallya a proclaimed offender in a FERA (Foreign Exchange Regulation Act) violation case of 1995.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Shehrawat said: “Keeping in view the fact that accused Vijay Mallya s/o Lt. Sh. Vittal Mallya failed to appear before the court despite a lapse of more than 30 days and no representation has been made on his behalf... Vijay Mallya is declared as proclaimed offender in the present case.’’
Earlier, Special Public Prosecutor for the Enforcement Directorate Naveen Kumar Matta submitted that more than 30 days had passed but the accused failed to appear in court.
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The court had in November last year started the process for declaring him a proclaimed offender after the ‘open-ended non-bailable warrant’ (NBW) against him was returned as unexecuted, giving him the last opportunity for appearance on December 18.
The court had in December 2000 exempted him from personal appearance in the case. However, it had modified the order in 2016 on an application by the ED and asked him to appear before it.
The passport authority has already revoked his passport. Mallya has been staying in London as a Permanent Resident for nearly three decades.
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The case is related to his non-appearance before the ED despite issuance of four summons between 1999 and 2000 for investigation into charges of allegedly entering into an agreement with London-based company Messrs Benetton Formula Limited in 1995 for advertisement of the Kingfisher brand on racing cars in the Formula-I World Championship in 1996, 1997 and 1998 without taking prior permission of the Reserve Bank of India. As Mallya failed to appear in response to the summons, the ED had filed a complaint against him in the court of the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in the Patiala House courts here in 2000.
The court had later summoned him and framed the charges against him in 2001.