Mallya tells HC he cannot specify return date due to UK travel restrictions

Vijay Mallya told the Bombay High Court he cannot say when he will return to India because a UK order bars him from travel, as the Bench reiterated he must submit to its jurisdiction

Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court that he would be unable to specify when he would return to India from the United Kingdom, citing restrictions on his travel. The submission was made during the hearing of his plea, which assailed the constitutional validity of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018. A Bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad reiterated that if Mallya seeks adjudication of his challenge, he must submit to the jurisdiction of Indian courts.

 

Responding to the court’s query, Senior Advocate Amit Desai, appearing for Mallya, read out a statement explaining that his client’s passport had been revoked in 2016 and that a UK court order bars him from leaving England and Wales or applying for, or possessing, any international travel document.

 

“He is not permitted to leave or attempt to leave England and Wales or apply for or be in possession of any international travel document. In any event, the petitioner is unable to precisely state when he will return to India,” Desai submitted.

 

Desai further contended that Mallya’s physical presence in India was not a prerequisite for the High Court to examine his challenge to the vires of the statute. He also informed the Bench that an appeal has been filed against the trial court’s order declaring Mallya a fugitive economic offender.

 

Arguing that appearance in India would render his remedies illusory, Desai said: “If I (Mallya) were to appear (in India), then all these proceedings are irrelevant. Because the section of the statute says that if you appear in the country, then all these orders will be set aside. That is the statute itself. Therefore, I am rendered remedy-less either by an appeal or in a writ if I am challenging the vires.”

 

The Bench directed the Centre to respond to Mallya’s statement within a week and listed the matter for the second week of March 2026.

 

During the proceedings, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, informed the court that the Union government had filed an affidavit detailing the alleged dues owed by Mallyya and the recovery effected through attachment and sale of his assets in India.

 

He submitted that Mallya has been absconding since 2 March 2016 and was declared a fugitive economic offender on 5 January 2019. Mehta also expressed concern that statements made in the present proceedings could be relied upon in ongoing extradition proceedings, which he said were at an advanced stage.

 

The Court, however, clarified that submissions made in the present writ petition or related proceedings could not be used in the extradition process, a position it noted had been recorded in earlier orders.