Yesterday, a special PMLA court in Mumbai allowed the Enforcement Directorate’s application seeking declaration of businessman Vijay Mallya as a Proclaimed Offender (PO)..This effectively means that Mallya will have to remain present in the country within 30 days of the declaration under Section 82 of the Code of Criminal Procedure..The ED’s application states that the accused (Mallya) whose passport has been revoked and against whom a non-bailable warrant has already been issued, has “no respect towards the law of the land”. The application goes on to cite the observations of the apex court in Mallya’s appeal against the ED’s decision to initiate criminal proceedings against him for evading summons in a FERA case in 2000-01..When asked about the repercussions of this order, the ED’s lawyer Hiten Venegaokar told Bar & Bench that,.[Mallya] is now officially an absconder, he has always claimed that he is not one. This is one more successfull step towards getting him to appear in court. We can now attach all his properties in the country irrespective of the fact that whether they have anything to do with the crime or not.” .The larger question though, is whether this will bring Mallya back to the country or whether extradition will have to be initiated. India does not have the best track record when it comes to extradition; Lalit Modi, Nadeem Saifi, Ravi Shankaran (Navy War Room Leak Case) are some of the names that come to mind..The PO declaration comes more than three months after the the beleagured businessman left the country on March 2. Since then, multiple warrants and a non-bailable warrant have been issued against him, and his passport has been revoked..On the condition of anonymity, a noted criminal lawyer said,.Unfortunately these are all ex parte orders, but this application for declaring him a PO is not in accordance with the requirements of law. Because a proclaimed offender essentially is an absconder from the legal process where the process has been initiated and he is avoiding it. .Mallya left the country way before the process has been initiated. You can’t then say he has absconded with knowledge of any proceeding. Now the Interpol is yet to find any credible evidence to initiate extradition, which anyways depends on the merits of every case..As The Telegraph reported, CBI had admitted how the first alert to immigration authorities seeking Mallya’s detention was a mistake. Moreover, CBI’s officials also admit to the fact that Mallya made himself available for questioning thrice before, hence there was no reason to panic..While the ED is now looking to attach all of his properties in the country, Vijay Mallya’s extradition still seems to be a distant dream..(Image source)
Yesterday, a special PMLA court in Mumbai allowed the Enforcement Directorate’s application seeking declaration of businessman Vijay Mallya as a Proclaimed Offender (PO)..This effectively means that Mallya will have to remain present in the country within 30 days of the declaration under Section 82 of the Code of Criminal Procedure..The ED’s application states that the accused (Mallya) whose passport has been revoked and against whom a non-bailable warrant has already been issued, has “no respect towards the law of the land”. The application goes on to cite the observations of the apex court in Mallya’s appeal against the ED’s decision to initiate criminal proceedings against him for evading summons in a FERA case in 2000-01..When asked about the repercussions of this order, the ED’s lawyer Hiten Venegaokar told Bar & Bench that,.[Mallya] is now officially an absconder, he has always claimed that he is not one. This is one more successfull step towards getting him to appear in court. We can now attach all his properties in the country irrespective of the fact that whether they have anything to do with the crime or not.” .The larger question though, is whether this will bring Mallya back to the country or whether extradition will have to be initiated. India does not have the best track record when it comes to extradition; Lalit Modi, Nadeem Saifi, Ravi Shankaran (Navy War Room Leak Case) are some of the names that come to mind..The PO declaration comes more than three months after the the beleagured businessman left the country on March 2. Since then, multiple warrants and a non-bailable warrant have been issued against him, and his passport has been revoked..On the condition of anonymity, a noted criminal lawyer said,.Unfortunately these are all ex parte orders, but this application for declaring him a PO is not in accordance with the requirements of law. Because a proclaimed offender essentially is an absconder from the legal process where the process has been initiated and he is avoiding it. .Mallya left the country way before the process has been initiated. You can’t then say he has absconded with knowledge of any proceeding. Now the Interpol is yet to find any credible evidence to initiate extradition, which anyways depends on the merits of every case..As The Telegraph reported, CBI had admitted how the first alert to immigration authorities seeking Mallya’s detention was a mistake. Moreover, CBI’s officials also admit to the fact that Mallya made himself available for questioning thrice before, hence there was no reason to panic..While the ED is now looking to attach all of his properties in the country, Vijay Mallya’s extradition still seems to be a distant dream..(Image source)
