GMR Group Files Cheque Bounce Cases Against Vijay Mallya

no1news May 5, 2016 Business Leave a comment 707 Views

A local court today said it will pronounce on May 9 its order on the quantum of sentence for beleaguered industrialist Vijay Mallya, who was convicted in two cheque bounce cases filed against him by GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd.The matter relates to cheques issued by Kingfisher Airlines Ltd to GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL) which operates the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here, towards charges for using the facilities at the airport for its Kingfisher Airlines flights.

“It is a known fact that he (Mallya) has fled the country and his passport has been revoked and he has also resigned from the post of Rajya Sabha MP. He has never marked his presence before the court which shows the conduct of the accused,” Reddy submitted.The court had earlier issued non-bailable warrants against the Kingfisher Airlines, its chairman Mallya and A Raghunathan, a senior official of the company for allegedly dishonouring two cheques of Rs 50 lakh each given to GMR.

As per the GMR counsel, a total of 17 cases have been filed against Kingfisher Airlines in different courts over outstanding amount of Rs 22.5 crore which it owes to GMR and the cases are in different stages of trial. GHIAL had in October, 2012, withdrawn a case over “bounced” cheques against Mallya after the airline agreed to pay the outstanding amount due to the airport operator.

However, Kingfisher made only a part of the payment and defaulted on the rest, prompting the airport operator to approach the court. The Ministry of External Affairs recently suspended Mallya’s diplomatic passport for a period of four weeks on the advice of Enforcement Directorate which two days ago obtained an NBW against him from a Mumbai court in a money-laundering case.

The Kingfisher Airlines, promoted by Mallya, has defaulted on repayment of over Rs 9,000 crore of bank loan.