India revokes Mallya's passport

India on Sunday revoked the passport of industrialist Vijay Mallya, whose now defunct Kingfisher Airlines has been accused of defaulting on loans worth Rs 9,400 crore.

“Having considered the reply furnished by Vijay Mallya to the show cause notice, the facts got by Enforcement Directorate and non-bailable warrant under the PMLA Act, 2002, issued by special judge, Mumbai, the Ministry of External Affairs has revoked the passport of Vijay Mallya under Section 10(3)(c) and 10(3)(h) of the Passport Act, 1967,” MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in a tweet.

Section 10 of the Passport Act deals with variation, impounding and revocation of passport and travel documents. The diplomatic passport of the 60-year-old industrialist, who is believed to be living in the United Kingdom for over a month and refused to appear before the Enforcement Directorate despite repeated notices, was suspended on April



15 by the MEA on the recommendation of the agency. The foreign office is now consulting legal experts on Mallya’s deportation and likely to approach the UK government seeking assistance. “The grounds for deportation are primarily two. A non-bailable warrant issued by the Mumbai court and suspension of the passport,” an official said.

The Enforcement Directorate, under the Union Finance Ministry, has approached the MEA seeking initiation of deportation proceedings against Mallya in connection with a Rs 900-crore loan fraud case in the IDBI bank, in which Mallya was accused of money laundering.

In addition, a consortium of 17 banks approached the apex court seeking recovery of loans worth approximately Rs 9,400 crore, which the Kingfisher Airlines did not pay back. Mallya left India on March 2, just before the banks approached the apex court to restrain him from leaving the country.