This comes as a effect of an earlier direction by the Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court in May when it had asked Mallya to be present in the next hearing which was today.
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Last month, a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Mumbai had declared Mallya a proclaimed offender in a loan default case.
Being an NRI, Vijay Mallya was only directing policy matters on behalf of Kingfisher Airlines.
A metropolitan magistrate’s court in suburban Andheri issued a Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) against liquor baron Vijay Mallya in a cheque bouncing case, on 16 July. During the hearing, an advocate appearing for Mallya told the court that since Mallya’s passport has been revoked by the government of India, he can’t come to the country. These cheques had bounced in 2012 and were of Rs 50 crores and 57 crores each. Hence, the NBW was issued following Mallya’s absence in the court.
The two applications filed by AAI sought cancellation of permanent exemption from court appearance granted to Mallya, who left India in March even as creditors of his airline were trying to pin him down for dues of over Rs 9000 crore, and sought an arrest warrant against him. The court, however, declined to grant further time, and issued the warrant.
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Mallya faces several NBWs including four issued by a Hyderabad court after he failed to appear before it in connection with alleged dishonour of cheques amounting to Rs 2 crore to GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd.
