SC discharges Vijay Mallya's lawyer from case
November 03, 2022 22:46
The lawyer of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya on Thursday told the Supreme Court that he was not receiving any communication from him and sought to be discharged from the case as a counsel.
A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Hima Kohli allowed the discharge of advocate E C Agrawala from the case and asked him to furnish the e-mail ID of the liquor baron along with his present residential address in the United Kingdom to the apex court registry.
"Counsel seeking discharge the case because in spite of communication from his end, no instruction is forthcoming," the bench said and asked the lawyer to follow the process of discharge.
Agrawala told the top court, "I want to be discharged from this matter as I am not receiving any instructions from my client. I am not able to establish contact with him. He is incommunicado for a long time."
The top court discharged the lawyer from the two petitions filed by Mallya against the October 5, 2018 and September 13, 2019 orders of the Karnataka High Court directing him to pay Rs 3,101 crore to a consortium of banks.
In a separate case, on July 11, the top court had sentenced Mallya to four months in jail for contempt of court, and directed the Centre to secure the presence of the fugitive businessman who has been in the UK since 2016 to undergo the imprisonment.
The top court had said Mallya, 66, never showed any remorse nor tendered any apology for his conduct and adequate punishment must be imposed to maintain the majesty of the law.
The top court had also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on Mallya, who was held guilty of committing contempt of court by the top court on May 9, 2017, for transferring USD 40 million to his children in violation of court orders.
According to the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, a person may be punished with simple imprisonment of up to six months, or with a fine up to Rs 2,000, or both for contempt of court.
The top court had directed that Mallya and the beneficiaries under the said transactions relating to USD 40 million shall be bound to deposit the amount received along with interest at the rate of eight per cent per annum with the recovery officer concerned within four weeks.
It had said in case the amount is not deposited, the recovery officer concerned shall be entitled to take appropriate proceedings for recovery of money and the Government of India and all agencies concerned shall extend assistance and complete cooperation.
The top court had said that the fine shall be deposited in the apex court registry within four weeks and upon such deposit the amount shall be handed over to the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee.
It said in case the fine amount of Rs 2,000 is not deposited within the stipulated time, Mallya shall undergo a further sentence of two months.
The apex court said in spite of repeated opportunities afforded to Mallya, no submissions were advanced on his behalf either on the purging of contempt or on the quantum of punishment.
The transactions referred to in the judgement and order dated May 9, 2017 in terms of which the amount of USD 40 million was disbursed to the beneficiaries are held to be "void and inoperative", the court had said.
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