Passport of the billionaire
Vijay Mallya, who is in the UK has been suspended for 4 weeks by the Indian
government, on the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED)
request, on Friday.
Comes under the Ministry of External Affairs
[MEA], the Passport Issuing Authority has said that Mallya’s diplomatic
passport has been suspended under Section 10A of the Passports Act, 1967. He
has been given a week time to respond to the notice.
As reported earlier, Mallaya 60, who is in UK, has defied several requests asking him to return to Mumbai
for interrogation. His lawyers have said that he is making himself available in
video-conferences to banks, and therefore, his presence in India is not
necessary.
In several tweets, Mr Mallya, who is a Member of the Rajya
Sabha, has said he is not an absconder.
As a parliamentarian, he has a diplomatic
passport, which is suspended for a month, said the government today. He has
been given a week to explain why it should not be revoked.
A group of 18 banks led by State Bank of India
have turned down Malla’s offer to pay 4000 crores by September and another 2000
crores if Kingfisher wins a lawsuit seeking damages from a plane engine-maker.
The banks approached the Supreme Court towards the end of February asking for Mr Mallya to be stopped from traveling abroad; however, the government then revealed that he had already flown to London.
Mr Mallya's passport has been suspended because he has "stopped cooperating with investigators", said sources in the Enforcement Directorate, which wants to question him about money-laundering in a 900-crore loan from IDBI, a state-run bank.
(Author: Ramesh Kumar Jajoo
Tweet: RameshJajoo)
(Various Sources)
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