Supreme Court to pronounce verdict against Vijay Mallya in contempt of court case on July 11

The Supreme Court will pronounce its verdict on July 11 on the term of punishment in the contempt of court case against fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, accused of bank loan fraud of over Rs 9,000 crore. He is accused of being involved in a Rs 9,000-crore bank loan scam involving Kingfisher Airlines and has been convicted of contempt. According to the cause list of July 11 uploaded on the apex court's website, a bench headed by Justice U U Lalit will pronounce the order.

Justice Lalit, Justice S Ravindra Bhat, and Justice P.S. The bench of Narasimha on March 10 reserved its order on fixing the quantum of sentences in the case and observed that no progress can be made in the trial against Mallya. After hearing the arguments of Justice Friend Jaideep Gupta, the decision was reserved. The bench had earlier allowed the counsel representing Mallya to present written arguments in the matter till March 15.

However, Mallya's lawyer had said on March 10 that since no instructions could be received from his UK-based client, he was paralyzed and could not stand his (Mallya's) side regarding the period of sentence to be awarded in the contempt case. I am helpless. The bench said, 'We have been told that there are some cases (against Mallya) going on in the UK.' It said, 'We do not know, how many cases are pending. The issue is as far as our judicial jurisdiction is concerned, how long will we be able to go on like this.

The apex court had fixed February 10 for a hearing, citing the long time given to Mallya, and gave the fugitive businessman the last chance to appear in person or through his lawyer. Mallya was convicted in 2017 for contempt and the matter was to be listed to determine his proposed sentence. The apex court had 2020 dismissed the revision petition filed by Mallya for reconsideration of the 2017 verdict. The court found him guilty of contempt for sending $40 million to his children's accounts defying court orders.