Vijay Mallya should be punished: Prosecution lawyer

After the Supreme Court found liquor baron Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt and summoned him to personally appear on July 10, lawyer representing SBI consortium, Soumik Ghoshal on Tuesday said that if Mallya is not able to give reasons for the contempt of court then he will be punished.

"This is not a conviction but there is definitely an order which holds him in contempt. The problem that he has faced with currently is that he has not made full and proper disclosure of his total assets. There is an expectation that if Vijay Mallya is not able to give reasons for the contempt of court then he will be punished," Ghoshal told ANI.

He added that Mallya did not mention anywhere about the amount he got for getting removed from United Breweries.

"He will be present in court and he will have to face questions by the court on why he should not be held for contempt. I think he should be punished. My expectation is that he will have to face the punishment under the contempt of court act," he said.

Ghoshal further said that it was a high time that an order was passed against him.

"He received a certain amount of $40 million from that company which has not been disclosed before the Karnataka High Court and the Supreme Court. That's why he has been held guilty of contempt," he added.

In a yet another jolt to Mallya, the Supreme Court today found the liquor baron guilty of contempt of court and summoned him to personally appear on July 10.

The apex court was hearing a plea by a consortium of banks, who moved the apex court after Mallya received $40 million from British firm Diageo Plc in February 2016 and allegedly transferred the money to his children, instead of repaying loans that he owes to the banks.

The absconding businessman was arrested by Scotland Yard last month on fraud allegations, which triggered his extradition process in the British courts.

However, Mallya was released on bail as he assured the court to abide by all conditions associated with extradition proceedings, including surrendering his passport.

Despite the extradition treaty signed in 1992 between India and the UK, only one successful extradition has taken place - Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was sent back to India in October 2016 to face trial over his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002, the report says.

Last February, India gave a formal extradition request for Mallya through a note verbale.

Meanwhile, a joint team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) reached London on Tuesday.

Last month, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed that Mallya's extradition has been stratified by the Secretary of State of the U.K. Government and added that a warrant would soon be released against him.

The 61-year-old Mallya, who has been living in Britain since last year, was arrested by the Scotland Yard last month on the extradition request of India.

Within hours of his arrest, Mallya, who is accused of cheating and frauds, was released on bail by a London court.

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will argue the case on behalf of the Indian authorities.

Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines allegedly owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016.

However, unlike Mallya, he had submitted to the extradition order without legal challenge.

India had given a formal extradition request for Mallya as per the extradition treaty between India and the UK through a note verbale, a diplomatic communication, on February 8.

-ANI