Contempt matter against Vijay Mallya: Waited sufficiently long, can't be waiting any longer, says SC
New Delhi, Nov 30: We can't be waiting any longer now and the sentencing aspect in the contempt matter against fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, who is an accused in bank loan default case of over Rs 9,000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines, would be dealt with finally on January 18 next year, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday.
Noting that Mallya, who is presently in the United Kingdom (UK), was held guilty of contempt in 2017 and the matter was thereafter to be listed to hear him on the proposed punishment to be awarded to him, a bench headed by Justice U U Lalit said the apex court has waited sufficiently long .
The top court had last year dismissed Mallya's plea seeking review of its 2017 verdict which held him guilty of contempt for transferring USD 40 million to his children in violations of the court orders.
The apex court noted that as per an office memorandum, under the signature of Deputy Secretary (extradition) of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), placed before it, the proceedings for extradition have attained finality and Mallya has exhausted all avenues for appeal in the UK.
The bench, also comprising Justices S R Bhat and Bela M Trivedi, noted that the November 30 office memorandum also refers to proceedings pending in the UK which are stated to be confidential and as such no details are getting disclosed .
What we wish to do is, we will list this matter for disposal in second week of January because we have waited sufficiently long enough, we can't be waiting any longer now. It has to see the light of the day at some stage or the other and the process must also get over, the bench observed during the hearing.
It said it will list the matter in January for disposal and at that juncture, if Mallya want to take part personally, he will be here through the extradition proceedings and in case, he is not, the bench will hear the submissions of his lawyer.
In its order, the top court said Mallya is at liberty to advance the submissions and if for any reason, he is not present before the court, lawyer on his behalf can advance submissions.
The bench noted that Mallya was held guilty of contempt in 2017 but because of certain proceedings, which at the relevant time were going on in courts of law in the UK, his presence could not be secured despite directions issued by the apex court.
The top court requested senior advocate Jaideep Gupta to assist it as an amicus curiae in the matter.
The matter shall be dealt with finally on January 18, 2022, it said.
Noting that the office memorandum placed before it refers to certain proceedings which are stated to be confidential, the bench said it appeared that these are the same proceedings which were referred to in the November last year order.
When the matter was taken up for hearing at 2 PM, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the bench that he has just received a communication from the MEA.
The communication was placed before the bench which perused it.
When the matter was taken up for hearing during the pre-lunch session, the apex court said it proposes to go ahead with the contempt matter and list it for hearing on sentencing.
What we propose to pass an order that we will list the matter for hearing on sentence because the advocate (for Mallya) continues to appear. So, therefore, there is no embargo on hearing the advocate on sentence. We will go ahead with that, the bench said.
Advocate Rajat Nair, appearing for the Centre, then told the bench that he is being led by the Solicitor General, who is arguing before another court.
He (Mehta) has the instruction. He has already spoken to the concerned authorities in the MEA. If this matter can be taken up tomorrow or day after, he will make submissions, advocate Nair told the apex court.
The bench then said that it would take up the matter for hearing at 2 PM during the day.
On January 18 this year, the Centre told the top court that the government is making all efforts to extradite Mallya from the UK but the process is being delayed due to some legal issues involved in the matter.
The MEA has raised the issue of extradition with the UK government and the Centre was making all serious efforts to extradite Mallya, Mehta had said.
Mallya is in the UK since March 2016. He is on bail on an extradition warrant executed three years ago by Scotland Yard on April 18, 2017.
On November 2, last year, the top court had asked the Centre to file status report in six weeks on the confidential legal proceedings pending in the UK on extradition of Mallya to India.
The Centre had on October 5 last year told the apex court that Mallya cannot be extradited to India until a separate secret legal process in the UK, which is judicial and confidential in nature is resolved.
The Centre had in October last year said it is not aware of the secret on-going proceedings against Mallya in the UK as the Government of India is not party to the process.
The Centre had earlier given details of the extradition proceedings against Mallya starting from February 9, 2017 till dismissal of his appeal against extradition in UK on May 14 last year and said that he has thus exhausted all avenues of appeal in the UK.
The Centre had said that following the refusal of leave to appeal, Mallya's surrender to India should, in principle, have been completed within 28 days but the UK home office intimated that there is a further legal issue which needs to be resolved before Vijay Mallya's extradition may take place.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
