The Supreme Court has said that it can wait no longer for fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya to get extradited from UK and that it will proceed on January 18 in the case, in which he has been held guilty of contempt of court, for quantifying the punishment to be awarded to him.
Mallya, who was found guilty of contempt of court by the apex court, was directed to be personally present before the apex court for a hearing on sentencing. However, Mallya’s personal presence could not be made possible due to the legal proceedings going on in the UK where the fugitive is residing currently.
“We have waited long enough now and the legal process also has to see the light of the day at some point,” Justice UU Lalit, heading the bench hearing this case, said.
SC has said that it is up to Mallya to appear in person or advance arguments through his counsel. But, the matter has to see the light as it is getting adjourned from 2017, when he was found guilty of contempt. Only sentencing is pending for last four years, it said.
While fixing the date for hearing the case next on January 18, the court noted that Mallya was embroiled in extradition proceedings before the UK courts. He has purportedly exhausted all the avenues of appeal in the UK.
