Vijay Mallya
Vijay MallyaReuters

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has reportedly asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to request the Interpol to issue a red-corner notice against Vijay Mallya. The businessman moved to England in early March after various banks declared him a wilful defaulter when his Kingfisher Airlines defaulted on loans of over Rs. 9,000 crore.

The ED has sent a letter regarding the request to the CBI headquarters, India Today reported on Thursday, citing its sources. Interpol, according to its website, issues red-corner notices for the arrest of a person "wanted by national jurisdictions for prosecution or to serve a sentence based on an arrest warrant or court decision."

A special court had, on April 18, issued a non-bailable "open-dated" warrant against Mallya in connection with a money-laundering case against him. The 60-year-old was accused of syphoning off over Rs. 900 crore from IDBI Bank and laundering it overseas, an accusation Mallya has refuted.

The request for the red-corner notice comes even as the ED is considering to attach Mallya's domestic assets and shares worth Rs. 9,000 crore in connection with the case. The ED wants to question Mallya in the money-laundering case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

In the meantime, bankers who lent money to Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines have been allowed to take physical possession of his Kingfisher Villa, worth Rs. 90 crore, in Candolim, which was mortgaged for loans.

The consortium of banks had, in 2014, appealed for the physical possession of the villa under Section 14 of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and the Enforcement of Security Interest Act.

The ED sought the red-corner notice after the United Kingdom on Wednesday said it cannot deport Mallya over an invalid passport as he has been staying in Britain on a vaild U.K. visa. It has, however, agreed to assist India in his extradition or with mutual legal assistance under a 1992 treaty.