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Supreme Court Holds Vijay Mallya Guilty Of Contempt Of Court

Mallya has been ordered to appear in front on the court on July 10.
Parivartan Sharma / Reuters

The Supreme Court on Tuesday held liquor baron Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt of court, according to media reports.

The top court directed Mallya to appear on July 10 when it will deliberate on a sentence.

The order came on a plea by consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI), which had said that Mallya had allegedly transferred $40 million received from British firm Diageo, to his children in "flagrant violation" of various judicial orders, PTI reported.

The apex court had on March 9 asked the liquor baron about the "truthfulness" of his disclosure of assets and the transfer of money to his children.

"We give him an opportunity to be present in court personally while deciding on quantum of punishment," Mint reported justices A.K. Goel and U.U. Lalit as saying.

Mallya's counsel reportedly said the money that came from Diageo belonged to his children and not him. The bench had shot back: "Somebody who is faced with a default of Rs 6,200 crore and suppose if he gets Rs 3,000 crore, he should have given it to repay the dues."

Mallya's counsel also maintained that the $40 million was not covered under the injunction order.

In October last year, the court had rapped Mallya for not making full disclosure of his overseas properties and had asked him to do so within a month.

Mallya moved to Britain last year after banks sued him to recover about $1.4 billion the Indian authorities say is owed by Kingfisher, now a defunct airline. Mallya has denied wrongdoing.

In India, contempt of court is punishable with six months in prison or a fine of up to Rs 2000 or both.

With Reuters and PTI inputs.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.