Vijay Mallya sentenced to four months in prison

In a contempt case, the Supreme Court sentenced fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya to four months in prison on Monday.

Vijay Mallya is charged in a bank loan default case involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines worth over Rs 9,000 crore.

A bench led by Justice U U Lalit also fined the fugitive businessman Rs 2,000. He was found guilty of contempt for violating court orders by transferring USD 40 million (one million = ten lakh) to his children.

The bench stated that in order to maintain the “majesty of law,” it must impose adequate punishment on the contemnor.

His lawyer had previously informed the court that his client was in the United Kingdom and would be unable to argue the quantum of sentence in the contempt case.

A consortium of lending banks led by the State Bank of India had petitioned the Supreme Court, alleging that he was not complying with court orders on loan repayment.