NEW DELHI: Fugitive industrialist Vijay Mallya has been "untraceable and unresponsive", his counsel on Thursday told the Supreme Court, seeking a permission to discharge him from representing the businessman.
Mallya has been incommunicado for a long time. There is no instructions from him with regard to the pending matter, the counsel submitted before a bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Hima Kohli.
The court asked the lawyer to provide Mallyas email and residential address in the UK to the court registry.
It also permitted him to initiate the procedure for withdrawing his legal representation.
On July 11, Mallya was sentenced to four months in jail with Rs 2,000 fine by the top court in a 2017 contempt case related to transfer of USD 40 million to his three children's accounts, despite the court restraint order.
The top court had then also directed the Union government to secure presence of Mallya, presently residing in the United Kingdom, for undergoing the punishment.
Mallya has been living in the United Kingdom where the court allowed India's plea for extradition. However, some proceedings over there had delayed the final process.
SBI-led consortium of banks have filed a case for recovery of over Rs 9,000 Cr, including interest on loans disbursed to Mallya, promoter of Kingfisher airlines, now defunct.
