Vijay Mallya is not in India: AG tells SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a notice to liquor baron Vijay Mallya on a petition by a consortium of 17 banks seeking disclosure of his assets and seizure of passport.

Attorney General informed the apex court that Mallya left India on March 2. The apex court has given Mallya two weeks to respond in the matter. The next hearing on the matter is on March 30.

The Supreme Court questioned why loans were given to Mallya when he was a defaulter and was facing proceedings in court of law.The State Bank of India and other banks had moved the apex court seeking to restrain the liquor baron from leaving the country.

This came after the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) barred Mallya from accessing $75 million (Rs 515 crore) exit payment from Diageo over the loan default case. The Enforcement Directorate also registered a money laundering case over a loan default with IDBI.

The SBI had filed a plea seeking Mallya`s arrest and impounding of his passport. Mallya`s defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes Rs 7,800 crore to a consortium of 17 banks led by SBI.