EW DELHI: Armed with a non-bailable arrest warrant against him, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has approached the external affairs ministry seeking initiation of deportation proceedings against businessman Vijay Mallya in connection with its money laundering probe against him in the Rs 900 crore IDBI alleged loan fraud case.
The agency has written to MEA and will also soon write to the CBI to get an Interpol red corner notice (RCN) issued against the Rajya Sabha MP to get him arrested, based on the NBW directed by a Mumbai court.
Only last week, the MEA had suspended Mallya’s diplomatic passport and has sought a reply from him as to why his passport should not be revoked as the ED said the businessman was not cooperating in the probe in the said case under the stringent Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Sources said once the deportation proceedings are initiated, the MEA will seek assistance of their counterparts in the United Kingdom to interdict Mallya and fly him back to India.
“The grounds for deportation are primarily two. A non-bailable warrant issued by the Mumbai court and suspension of the passport of the businessman,” they said.
Mallya is understood to be in the UK after he left India on March 2.
A lHyderabad court had on Wednesday convicted Mallya in a cheque-bouncing case filed against him by GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd.
With the latest request for deportation, the ED has virtually deployed all legal measures in place to bring back Mallya to India and make him join investigations “in person”, which the agency had stated in a Mumbai court was essential to take the probe forward in the case.
