SC to pronounce order on sentence against Vijay Mallya on July 11

Mallya was found guilty of contempt by the apex court on May 9, 2017

The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce on July 11 its order on the quantum of sentence against fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya in a contempt case over non-disclosure of assets in a plea filed by the SBI-led consortium of banks for recovery of over Rs 9,000 crore.

A bench of Justice U U Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat and P S Narasimha had on March 10 wrapped up the hearing in the matter. The court had then given a chance to Mallya's counsel to file the written submissions, even as he said he had nothing to say on merit. Senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, acting as amicus curiae, had submitted that the court has given several chances for Mallya to appear.

The Ministry of Home Affairs had informed the court that the UK Home Office has intimated there is a further legal issue that needs to be resolved before Mallya's extradition takes place and this issue is outside and apart from the extradition process having effect under the UK law.

"They said there are proceedings in the UK. It’s like a dead wall, something is pending we don’t know. How long can we go on so far as our jurisdictional power is concerned,” the bench said.

The court had also noted Mallya is not in anyone’s custody and he is a free citizen in the UK. “The only reason perhaps is there’s a proceeding which is pending, which will decide if a person is to be extradited," the court added.

On February 10, the top court gave a final opportunity to Mallya, seeking his appearance, before it pronounced a sentence in contempt filed by banks, in which he was found guilty on May 9, 2017. The top court said it has found Mallya guilty of contempt and punishment has to be imposed. It added that going by normal logic the contemnor has to be heard, but he has not appeared before the court so far.

"This cannot become a gateway for courts of the first instance to adopt this method, and it has to be specifically mentioned that circumstances in the present case were extraordinary," it said.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had clarified that it was not the Indian government's stand that some confidential proceedings against him are pending in the UK, rather it was the stand of the UK government that was delaying his extradition.