Money Laundering Court declared Vijay Mallya as Proclaimed Offender

Businessman Vijay Mallya was on 14 June 2016 declared as a Proclaimed Offender by a special court for the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Mumbai in a loan diversion case.

The court issued proclamation under Section 82 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) against Vijay Mallya.

The move came after the Enforcement Directorate (ED), an investigation agency under the Union Finance Ministry, on 10 June 2016 filed a petition over a case where Mallya is suspected to have diverted a 430 crore rupees loan given by IDBI Bank Ltd to his Kingfisher Airlines Ltd.

The ED requested the court to issue an order under Section 82 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and term Mallya a proclaimed offender, citing multiple arrest warrants pending against Mallya including a non-bailable warrant (NBW) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

Mallya left the country on 2 March 2016 for London on a diplomatic passport. The ED now plans to send the court order to the UK authorities to start on the process of deportation.

The directorate has identified around 4000 crore rupees worth of assets owned by Mallya.

Who is a proclaimed offender?
A person is termed as a proclaimed offender in a criminal investigation if the court believes that the accused has absconded or is concealing himself, so that the warrant cannot be executed.

According to the Section 83 of CrPC, the proclaimed offender is required to appear before the PMLA court and the investigation agency within 30 days.