Vijay Mallya, the country’s most famous liquor tycoon who has been on the run from Indian law enforcement authorities since 2016 has been declared as a “fugitive economic offender” by a Mumbai court on 5th January 2019. The law finally caught up with the beleaguered businessman and bestowed on him the dubious distinction of being called the nation’s first fugitive economic offender.
Mallya has been accused of duping a consortium of banks to the tune of Rs 9000 crore when his Kingfisher Airlines went bust a few years ago and he could not make good on his borrowings and decided to leave the country in a bid not be held accountable for his “wilful default”. The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act came into existence just last year when the President Ram Nath Kovind signed off on it on August 5th 2018 making Vijay Mallya the first to be charged under this act. The law seeks to confiscate the assets of economic offenders who evade prosecution by remaining outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts. The consequence of Mallya being tagged as such is that now the government can confiscate the properties that are in his personal name in their effort to recover the sum of money due from him. It is thought that Mallya has personal assets that are in excess of the sum due by him to banks and now he may be forced to return to the country in a bid to save his fortune.
Just recently a London court upheld the extradition order which Indian authorities had been seeking to bring Mallya back to the country. However, Mallya has appealed this decision and will not be immediately brought back to the country via the order. Therefore, this judgement by the Mumbai court is a shot in the arm for the government which now has teeth to fight the fugitive Mallya and put pressure on him to return to the country to face his day in court. Under the newly enacted Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, a person can be declared a fugitive economic offender if a warrant has been issued against him for an offence involving an amount of Rs 100 crore or more and he has left the country and refused to return.
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