Vijay Mallya sentenced to 4 months imprisonment by Supreme Court for contempt The Supreme Court today sentenced fugitive baron Vijay Mallya to four months in jail and a fine of ₹2,000 in a contempt of court case in 2017. In 2017, he was convicted of contempt by transferring $40 million to his children in defiance of a court order. The fine must be paid within four weeks to the legal service authority of the Supreme Court, which does not add an additional two-month penalty, the court said.

"To preserve the dignity of justice, we must impose an adequate sentence," the judges said.

The country's top court also ruled that Vijay Mallya's $40 million settlement with his children was "futile and unnecessary" and ordered the beneficiaries to return 8% interest to the debt recovery officer within four weeks. If the amount is not refunded, Vijay Mallya's assets may be added.

"If it is not paid, the recovery officer may take appropriate action to recover the said amount and the Government of India and all authorities should assist in this process," the court order said.

A bench of Justices UU Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat and PS Narasimha passed the order.

The application by a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) sought contempt proceedings and an order for Vijay Mallya to deposit $40 million he received from offshore company Diageo.

Banks have accused Vijay Mallya of concealing facts and transferring money to his son Siddharth Mallya and daughters Leanna Mallya and Tanya Mallya in "flagrant violation" of orders issued by the Karnataka High Court.

Vijay Mallya is a suspect in the standard case of over ₹9,000 crore bank loans involving his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.