After No-Show, Enforcement Directorate Now Summons Vijay Mallya On April 9

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate or ED has issued fresh summons asking liquor baron Vijay Mallya to appear before it next Saturday after he failed to meet investigators today. This is the third summon issued to the businessman in a money laundering case.

Mr Mallaya had informed ED officials he would not be able to present himself before them in Mumbai today and asked for time till May to do that. The agency is investigating his role the case pertaining to an alleged fraud linked to a 900 crore loan.

The investigating officer of the case at ED's Mumbai zonal office, officials said, has been informed by Mr Mallya that he will not be able to keep the scheduled date of April 2 and that he should be given a fresh date, sometime in the month of May.

Mr Mallya reportedly informed the official that cases related to bank loans are being heard in the Supreme Court and he is trying to settle these loans with the help of his legal and corporate teams. If Mr Mallya does not show up after the third summons, the law empowers the agency to move court.

"His personal appearance is important to unravel the alleged irregularities reported to have been done in the IDBI loan fraud case. Money laundering offences probe are serious. Also, under PMLA, the onus to prove not guilty is on the accused and not on the investigating agency," the news agency Press Trust Of India, quoting sources said.

Mr Mallya and Kingfisher Airlines Limited had on March 30 submitted to the Supreme Court in a sealed cover a proposal for repayment of Rs. 4,000 crore out of the loan amount of Rs. 6,903 crore to the consortium of banks led by State Bank of India by September this year.

The ED had recently registered a money laundering case against Mr Mallya and others based on a CBI case registered last year.