PMLA court reserves order on non-bailable warrant against Mallya

Arguments on the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) plea seeking non-bailable warrant against liquor baron Vijay Mallya were completed before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Saturday, which reserved its order till April 18.

ED's lawyer informed the PMLA Court that the first summon to Mallya was issued on March 10, second on March 18 and the third on April 2 under Section 15 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to seek accused presence for investigation.

The lawyer told the court that Mallaya replied on March 15 that he has received the first summons dated March 10, while he responded to the second summon on April 1.

Mallaya was also ready to appear before the ED via video conferencing, said the lawyer.

He told the court that Mallay is not following his promises and asking for time to appear before the ED again and again.

The lawyer said Mallay used the same tactics in the Supreme Court SC also in a FERA case, and the loan he borrowed from IDBI was not used by Kingfisher Airlines.

The ED lawyer alleged that Mallaya has bought property worth above Rs. 430 crores outside India. "We found a money trail in the case and need to know how this money was dispersed."

Mallya is wanted by the law enforcing agencies for a default of over Rs. 9, 000 crores.

Meanwhile, acting on the ED's request, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday suspended the diplomatic passport of Mallya with immediate effect for a period of four weeks under Section 10-A of the Passports Act.

The Ministry of External Affair (MEA) asked Mallya to respond within a week as to why his passport should not be impounded or revoked.

"If he(Mallya) fails to respond within stipulated time it will be assumed he has no response to offer and MEA will go ahead with revocation," said MEA.