In a big blow to embattled business tycoon and Rajya Sabha member Vijay Mallya, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday suspended his diplomatic passport for one month. The suspension is based on the recommendation of Enforcement Directorate (ED) probing his massive loan default case. The MEA has given Mallya one week to respond why his passport should not be impounded.
In Mumbai, the ED also moved the special Prevention of Money laundering Act (PMlA) court seeking non-bailable warrant (NBW) against him in connection with a money laundering probe into the over Rs900-crore IDBI loan fraud case.
“On the advice of the Enforcement Directorate, the passport issuing authority in the Ministry of External Affairs has today suspended the validity of Vijay Mallya’s diplomatic passport with immediate effect for a period of four weeks, under Section 10A of the Passports Act, 1967. Mallya has been asked to respond within one week as to why his passport should not be impounded or revoked under Section 10(3)(c) of the Passports Act, 1967. If he fails to respond within the stipulated time, it will be assumed that he has no response to offer and the MEA will go ahead with the revocation,” said MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup.
Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines has defaulted on loans of over Rs 9,400 crore from various banks and he has been defying ED summons. Mallya holds a diplomatic passport on account of his status as MP. He left India on March 2, the day the consortium of 13 banks that had lent him money closed in on him by moving the Debt Recovery Tribunal.
Mallya is in Britain for over a month now. The ED has registered a money laundering case against Mallya and others based on an FIR registered last year by the CBI. The agency is also investigating financial structure of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines and looking into any payment of kickbacks to secure loans.
In Mumbai, the ED moved the special PMlA court seeking NBW against him. “We have moved the court seeking NBW against him and the hearing is likely to take place tomorrow,” said an ED official.
On April 9, in reply to the last summons, Mallya had informed the Investigating Officer (IO) of the case that he will be unable to depose personally as scheduled citing the ongoing legal proceedings going in the Supreme Court over settlement of loans. Mallya had sought two extensions from the earlier dates of March 18 and April 2.
ED officials believe Mallya was deliberately avoiding personal appearance, which is a statutory requirement before the agency, in defiance of due procedures. Several aspects of irregularities and criminal misconduct allegedly committed by Mallya including his role in the offence of money laundering have come to surface, the sources said, adding that they are under investigation by multiple agencies. Thus, his failure to appear before the investigating authority under PMlA is tantamount to wilful non-compliance and intended to deliberately scuttle the process of investigation. Sources said against this background, the ED moved the MEA for revocation of his passport.