A special court in Mumbai has issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya in connection with a ₹180-crore loan default case involving Indian Overseas Bank (IOB).
The warrant was issued on June 29 by special CBI court judge SP Naik Nimbalkar, with the detailed order made available on Monday.
The court, citing other non-bailable warrants and the CBI’s submission, stated that Mallya’s status as a “fugitive” justified issuing an open-ended NBW to ensure his presence.
The CBI claims that Mallya, the promoter of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, caused a wrongful loss of over ₹180 crore to the government-run bank by “willfully” defaulting on payments.
Mallya, already declared a fugitive economic offender in a money laundering case investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), currently resides in London, and the Indian government is seeking his extradition.
The warrant is linked to a cheating case filed by the CBI, alleging that loans obtained by Kingfisher Airlines from IOB between 2007 and 2012 were misused.
According to a recent chargesheet, these credit facilities were issued under an agreement with the bank. In August 2010, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directed the State Bank of India (SBI), the complainant in the case, to consider restructuring Kingfisher Airlines’ existing facilities by relaxing guidelines as a one-time measure for the aviation sector.
Consequently, lenders, including IOB, restructured the credit facilities through a Master Debt Recast Agreement (MDRA) signed by Kingfisher Airlines and a consortium of 18 banks.
The CBI alleges that Mallya and others made false promises and diverted loans for purposes other than intended, causing a wrongful loss of ₹141.91 crore due to default on loans. An additional loss of ₹38.30 crore was caused by converting loans to shares.
Taking cognizance of the chargesheet, the CBI court issued summonses against Mallya and five other accused. However, the CBI pushed for an NBW against Mallya, labeling him a fugitive and an absconder.
Citing multiple cases with pending NBWs and summonses against Mallya, who currently lives in England and “continues to subvert the process of law in India,” the court deemed it pointless to issue summonses.
“This is a fit case to issue an open-ended NBW against accused Mallya for securing his presence,” the court observed.
Mallya, a former Rajya Sabha MP, was declared a Fugitive Economic Offender in January 2019 by a special court for cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Accused of defaulting on multiple loan repayments and money laundering, he left India in March 2016.