India return uncertain due to bar on leaving UK: Mallya

Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, facing multiple fraud and money laundering cases, told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that he cannot specify when he will return to India as he is legally barred from leaving the United Kingdom.

In a statement submitted through his counsel Amit Desai, Mallya said he does not have an active passport after it was revoked and therefore cannot provide a definite timeline for his return.

The submission came after a bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad last week made it clear that it would not hear Mallya's plea challenging the order declaring him a fugitive economic offender unless he returns to India.


The court had asked the former liquor baron to clarify whether he intended to return to the country.

Mallya, who has been based in the UK since 2016, has filed two petitions before the high court - one challenging the order declaring him a fugitive economic offender and another questioning the constitutional validity of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.

The 70-year-old businessman is accused of defaulting on loan repayments worth several thousand crore rupees and faces money laundering charges.

In his statement, Mallya said he cannot provide a definite date of return as his Indian passport was revoked by the government in 2016 and courts in England and Wales have prohibited him from leaving the country.

"Mallya is not permitted to leave or attempt to leave England and Wales or apply for or possess any international travel document. In any event, the petitioner is unable to precisely state when he will return to India," Desai read out in court.

The senior counsel argued that Mallya's physical presence in India was not necessary for the court to hear his pleas against the fugitive tag and provisions of the Act. "If he were to appear in India, these proceedings would become irrelevant, as the statute provides that once the offender appears before the concerned court, such orders would stand set aside," Desai submitted.