Review plea filed by Vijay Mallya not listed for 3 years: SC seeks explanation from Registry

The Supreme Court has sought an explanation from its own Registry as to why a review petition filed by fugitive industrialist Vijay Mallya was not listed for the last three years, BarandBench.com has reported.

On May 9, 2017, the Supreme Court had directed the liquor baron to appear before it on July 10, after finding him guilty of contempt of court in a bank loan default case.

Mallya is an accused in a bank loan default case of over Rs 9,000 crore involving the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines. The plea in the apex court was filed by a consortium of banks.

However, soon after the Supreme Court order of May 9, Mallya had filed a review petition.

In an order passed on June 16, the Bench of Justices UU Lalit and Ashok Bhushan noted that the review was filed within the period of limitation, but was still not listed for three years.

The Bench has now called for an explanation from the Supreme Court Registry on why the case was not listed during this time. It has also asked for the names of the officers involved in the process.

"We direct the Registry to explain why the Review Petition was not listed before the concerned Court for last three years. The Registry to furnish all the details including names of the officials who had dealt with the file concerning the Review Petition for last three years," the Supreme Court said.

The court has now given the Registry a two-week deadline to respond.

Vijay Mallya has been declared a proclaimed offender by India. The Supreme Court's intervention in May 2017 was seen as impetus for the law enforcement agencies who had been trying hard to get the liquor baron extradited to India from the United Kingdom.