TDS row: Vijay Mallya gets bail in 3 cases

BANGALORE: Chairman of Kingfisher Airlines, Vijay Mallya, on Thursday appeared before the special court for economic offences here in relation to three complaints filed by the income tax department for not remitting the amount under tax deducted at source ( TDS) for financial years 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12.

The special Judge granted him bail in all three cases while asking him to furnish Rs 1-lakh cash and solvent surety each in all cases. The court also asked him to co-operate in the cases.

Earlier, Jeevan J Neeralagi, counsel for the I-T department, contended that the offences are non-bailable and, given the conduct of the accused, the bail plea should be rejected.

"The complainant department is yet to record his (Mallya) statement under section 131 of the IT Act, 1961, for which his presence is required. If he is released on bail, he is not likely to co-operate in any proceedings and he will dispose of all personal assets, putting the recovery proceedings in jeopardy. He is a non-resident Indian and frequently travels abroad. There's a likelihood of his not co-operating in the proceedings," the I-T department said.

KFA is facing a total TDS demand for around Rs 401 crore and it had remitted a portion of this amount. The I-T department had filed these complaints under section 276B of the Income Tax Act, 1961, against KFA and Mallya.