'Vijay Mallya does not have an active passport': Lawyer says fugitive can't return on a definite date

Mumbai: A week after the Bombay High Court asked fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya to “come back” to India and face the law instead of challenging it from London, his counsel on Wednesday said it was not possible to specify a date because he is barred from leaving the United Kingdom because of the legal proceedings.

“Vijay Mallya does not have an active passport after it was revoked (by the Indian government) and hence, he cannot give a definite date of return to India,” Senior Advocate Amit Desai said in his submission to division bench of the court Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court and Justice Gautam Ankhad.

“Mallya is not permitted to leave or attempt to leave England and Wales or apply for any international document. Because of this, the petitioner is unable to precisely state when he will return to India,” the statement said. 

The 70-year-old Mallya, who is  in the United Kingdom since 2016, has filed two petitions in the Bombay High Court  -- one challenging an order declaring him a fugitive economic offender and the other questioning the constitutional validity of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.

A week ago, the HC expressed displeasure over the liquor baron not appearing in the court and challenging the validity of the act. 

“You have to come back. If you cannot come back, then we cannot hear this plea…We may have to record that you are avoiding the process of the court. You cannot take the benefit of the proceedings. In all fairness to you, we are not dismissing the petition but giving you another opportunity,” the court had said.