New Delhi:
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is divided over its next steps and is weighing its options
after businessman Vijay Mallya ignored three summons to appear before the
agency, and is preparing a foolproof case for seeking revocation of his
diplomatic passport.
The agency
which wants to question Mallya in connection with loans given to Kingfisher
Airlines, is contemplating asking the Mumbai court to issue a non-bailable warrant
against him or issue summon to ensure his presence in court. The agency has
sought legal opinion on the matter and may approach the Mumbai court in the
next couple of days.
The step
comes a day after ED wrote to the Ministry of External Affairs to revoke
Mallya's diplomatic passport. This time the agency is being careful because it
wants to avoid a repeat of the Lalit Modi case, when a court overturned the
Ministry of External Affairs’ revocation of the former Indian Premier League
commissioner’s passport.
ED first
summoned Mallya to appear on March 18 and set a fresh date of April 2 after he
sought more time. The businessman again sought time till May but the agency
extended the deadline only by a week to April 9. Mallya, in his communication
to the agency, claimed that he has already given statements to the Central
Bureau of Investigation and the Serious Fraud Investigation Office. He also
cited ongoing legal proceedings in the Supreme Court on a settlement of loans,
a senior official said.
On ED’s directive, the Ministry of External Affairs has
revoked Lalit Modi’s passport.
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