Mallya cheque bounce cases: Court adjourns order till Aug 4

The court had earlier issued non-bailable warrants against Kingfisher Airlines, its chairman Mallya and A Raghunathan, a senior official of the company on the ground of dishonouring the two cheques.

A court in Hyderabad on Tuesday adjourned till August 4 its order on quantum of punishment in the two cheque bounce cases filed against beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya by GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd.

Third Special Court Magistrate M Krishna Rao had on April 20 convicted Mallya and others in connection with bouncing of two cheques of Rs 50 lakhs each under relevant sections of the Negotiable Instruments Act.

The order on the quantum of punishment was adjourned for the fourth time as Mallya was not present in the court which posted the matter to August 4 as the complainant also did not appear before the magistrate.

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The matter relates to cheques issued by Kingfisher Airlines Ltd to GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, which operates Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here, towards charges for using the facilities at the airport for Kingfisher Airlines flights.

The court had earlier issued non-bailable warrants against Kingfisher Airlines, its chairman Mallya and A Raghunathan, a senior official of the company on the ground of dishonouring the two cheques.

As the NBWs are still pending, the court directed GMR to furnish addresses of the company (Kingfisher) and Vijay Mallya for execution of the warrants.

The court said on May 5 that before imposing the quantum of punishment, it would hear the plea of the convicts and then pass its order with regard to sentencing them or imposing fine or both.

As per the GMR counsel, a total of 17 cases have been filed against Kingfisher Airlines in different courts over outstanding amount of Rs 22.5 crore (Rs 225 million), which it owes to GMR. The cases are in different stages of trial.

Image: Vijay Mallya. Photograph: Reuters