The 60-year-old industrialist has skipped three summons issued by Enforcement Directorate in this regard in the past. (File photo)
Armed with a non-bailable arrest warrant against him, the Enforcement Directorate has asked the External Affairs Ministry to start deportation proceedings against liquor baron 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 the ministry and will also soon write to the CBI to get an Interpol Red Corner Notice (RCN) issued against the Rajya Sabha lawmaker to get him arrested, based on the NBW directed by a Mumbai court.
Last week, the MEA had suspended Mr Mallya's diplomatic passport and asked him to explain why it should not be revoked. 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 its counterparts in the United Kingdom to get him back.
"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. Mr Mallya is understood to be in the UK after he left India on March 2.
A Hyderabad court had yesterday convicted him in a bounced cheque case filed against him by GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd.
The 60-year-old industrialist has skipped three summons issued by ED in this regard in the past. He had also sought time till May to depose before agency investigators. The ED had registered a money laundering case against Mr Mallya and others based on an FIR registered last year by the CBI.
The agency had alleged that Mr Mallya had siphoned off Rs 430 crore of an IDBI loan and used this money to acquire properties abroad, a charge denied by Kingfisher.