Vijay Mallya's Plea Against Contempt Order Rejected By Supreme Court

On Monday, the Supreme Court rejected fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya's plea seeking review of 2017 verdict holding him guilty for contempt of court. Mallya had sought a review of its May 2017 order holding him guilty of contempt for transferring $40 million to his children.

It had reserved the order in the case on 27 August after hearing arguments of parties in the case. A bench comprising justices U U Lalit and Ashok Bhushan said, "We do not find any merits. Review petition dismissed."

Mallya is an accused in a bank loan default case of over Rs 9,000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines and is presently in the UK.

He had filed the petition seeking review of the top court's 9 May 2017 order by which he was held guilty of contempt of court for transferring $40 million to his children in violation of the order. The Supreme Court had issued the order on a plea by a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI), claiming he had allegedly transferred the amount received from British firm Diageo to his children in "flagrant violation" of various judicial orders.

The banks had then accused Mallya of concealing the facts and diverted the money to his son Siddharth Mallya and daughters Leanna Mallya and Tanya Mallya in flagrant violation of the orders passed by the Karnataka High Court.