New Delhi: Banks have recovered ₹18,000 crore from fugitives Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Mehul Choksi, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court.
Mehta told the top court bench, led by Justice AM Khanwilkar, that the value of cases registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Mallya, Modi, and Choksi is now ₹67,000 crore.
“The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the cases of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi has managed to confiscate assets worth over ₹18,000 crore due to orders passed by the courts under (the) PMLA,” Mehta said.
In December Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that as of July banks had recovered ₹13,109 crore after the sale of assets belonging to the three.
At the time the latest tranche of recoveries was valued at ₹792 crore.
Mehta said there is a system of checks and balances to ensure the law could not be misused.
Mallya is accused in a bank loan default case involving defunct Kingfisher Airlines that is worth more than ₹9,000 crore. He is presently in the United Kingdom.
Choksi is wanted over a ₹13,500 crore fraud case involving the Punjab National Bank. He is currently on the Caribbean island of Antigua, after having secured bail from Dominica, where he was caught while trying to flee to avoid extradition to India. Nirav Modi, Choksi’s nephew, is also wanted in a fraud case involving PNB. He is also in London, pending extradition to India.
