The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea by beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya challenging the proceedings in a Mumbai court to declare him a fugitive economic offender and confiscate his properties.

The apex court dismissed the petition for non-prosecution after counsel representing Mallya submitted that he was not getting any instructions from the petitioner on the matter. Mallya is stated to be in the UK where he has been fighting an extradition battle with the Indian government and is also facing a jail sentence in India after being earlier convicted by the Supreme Court.

A bench of Justice A.S. Oka and Justice Rajesh Bindal dismissed Mallya’s 2018 appeal after his counsel informed the court that he was unable to argue the case in the absence of any specific instruction from Mallya to pursue the case further.

Justice Oka then passed the following order: “Heard learned counsel. The counsel for the petitioner states that the petitioner (Mallya) is not giving any instructions to the advocate for the petitioner. In view of the statement made, the present petition is dismissed for non-prosecution.”

On December 7, 2019, the apex court had refused to stay the proceedings under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act against Mallya. The court sought the Enforcement Directorate’s response on his plea challenging the action initiated by the authorities.

The bench had the issued notice to the ED on the special leave petition filed by Mallya challenging the refusal of the Bombay High Court to stay the proceedings against him. The high court had affirmed the earlier order passed by the appellate tribunal under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Act and Fugitive Offenders Act after a consortium of 11 banks led by SBI initiated proceedings against him.