Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya informed the Bombay High Court that he is legally unable to return to India as courts in the United Kingdom have barred him from leaving the country and his Indian passport remains revoked. Submitting a statement through his lawyer, Mallya said he cannot provide any timeline for his return, making it clear that the restrictions are beyond his control. The court had earlier refused to hear his petitions unless he appeared in India, forcing him to formally clarify his position.

Mallya’s counsel explained that British court orders prohibit him from possessing any travel documents or attempting to exit England and Wales, effectively keeping him grounded there. The businessman is challenging the order that declared him a fugitive economic offender and is also questioning the constitutional validity of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act itself. However, judges have indicated that his physical return to India remains central before any serious consideration of his pleas can take place — a legal deadlock that continues to stall proceedings.

Accused of defaulting on massive bank loans and facing multiple money laundering cases, Mallya has been living in the UK since 2016 after leaving India amid growing investigations. Declared a fugitive offender in 2019 under PMLA-related proceedings, he now argues that returning would automatically nullify the very legal orders he is challenging, making the court battle pointless. The High Court has asked the Union government to respond to his statement and scheduled further hearings — but for now, one of India’s most high-profile financial fugitives remains legally trapped abroad, with justice still hanging in limbo.