The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file its reply to the petition of Rajya Sabha MP and liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who sought direction for quashing of the Delhi High Court order permitting the trial court to prosecute him for allegedly ignoring summons in a FERA violation case.

A bench headed by Justice Arijit Pasayat issued notice and asked the ED to file  its reply.

Senior Counsel Fali S Nariman appearing for Mallya submitted that the High Court failed to appreciate that he had been exonerated by the ED in the FERA violation case for which the summon had been issued four times during investigation.

Mallya’s absence
Moreover, Mallya was not in India during the issuance of the summons three times, which could be proven from the passport.

He was summoned to appear before the ED to defend the charges against him for violation of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) by entering into an agreement on December 1, 1995 with Flavio Briatore representative of M/s Benetton Formula Ltd (London).

He had promised to spend $ 200,000 to sponsor a  Formula car race in Europe in the name of his Kingfisher liquor brand without the mandatory permission from the Reserve Bank of India(RBI).

Mallya has sought quashing of the order of the High Court which directed the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) at New Delhi District Court  to proceed with the criminal charges for “deliberately returning the summons” sent at his addresses in both Delhi and Bangalore.

The petition which was filed by counsel Vinita Bhargava, said, “The judgement of  the High Court ought to be interfered with the overriding interest of justice and set aside the facts and circumstances of the case and the charge be quashed.”