Fugitive offender tag is like an ‘economic death penalty’, Vijay Mallya tells Bombay High Court

Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court that attaching his assets under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act and declaring him a fugitive economic offender is like giving him an “economic death penalty”, PTI reported.

Mallya, through his counsel Amit Desai, made the statement before a bench of Justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre, when the court was hearing his plea challenging provisions of the Act that came into existence in August last year.

“My debts and the interest on such debts are mounting,” Mallya’s counsel said. “I have assets to pay off these debts but the government won’t allow the use of these assets to clear the debts. I have no control over my properties. This is an economic death penalty that has been awarded to me.”