In a latest development, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) slapped a fresh non-bailable warrant against fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya in a rupees 180-crore loan default case linked to Indian Overseas Bank (IOB).
Mallya, who is currently residing in London, has been declared a fugitive economic offender in the Kingfisher Airlines-related money laundering case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) while the Centre is currently seeking his extradition.
As per reports, the non-bailable warrant (NBW) was issued against Mallya on June 29 by special CBI court judge SP Naik Nimbalkar, and a detailed order was made available on Monday.
According to the warrant, the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines promoter's “willful” non-payment of the loan caused a wrongful loss of rupees 180 crore for the government-run Indian Overseas Bank.
The warrant has been issued in connection to a cheating case registered by CBI regarding the alleged division of loans availed by Kingfisher Airlines between 2007 and 2012. As per the chargesheet, the loan was issued to the private carrier based on an agreement.
Furthermore, the chargesheet also claimed that Mallya was dishonest and had the intent to cheat, which is why he "willfully" defaulted on the repayment obligations under the aforesaid loans and caused a wrongful loss of ₹141.91 crore on account of default on loans. An additional loss of ₹38.30 crore was caused by the conversion of loans into shares.
The special CBI court, considering all the other non-bailable warrants issued against Mallya and his status as a "fugitive", said, "this is a fit case to issue an open-ended NBW against him to secure his presence".
