Vijay Mallya asked to appear before Delhi court by Dec 18

The Patiala House Court here on Wednesday directed absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya to appear before it by December 18 in connection with the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) violation case.

The court warned him of being declared as a proclaimed offender if he fails to comply with its order.

Earlier in the day, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) approached the Patiala House Court seeking to declare Mallya a proclaimed offender.

In the previous hearing in April, a Delhi court had issued an open ended (no time limit) non-bailable warrant against Mallya.

This was the sixth non-bailable arrest warrant issued against the liqour baron.

The court also asked the ED to file a progress report in this regard within two months.

It had earlier in 2016 lifted the exemption granted to the liquor baron from mandatory personal appearance in case of evading summons in the FERA's violation case.

As per the case registered by the ED, Mallya had allegedly paid USD 200,000 to a British firm and some European countries for displaying Kingfisher logo in Formula One World Championships in London in 1996, 1997 and 1998.

The investigative agency also claimed that the money was paid without prior approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in violation of the FERA norms.