Tycoon Vijay Mallya was declared as a "fugitive economic offender" on Saturday by the Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court. He is the first person to be charged with the title under the new fugitive law. It means that the government will now be allowed to confiscate his properties.

The anti-corruption court heard an application from the Enforcement Directorate seeking to declare Mallya as a fugitive economic offender. The application was filed before the court in the month of July 2018 under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018. It further sought the immediate confiscation assets worth about Rs 12,500 crore.

Mallya's plea seeking a stay on the hearing was denied by the special court on 30 October and by the Bombay High Court on 22 November.

As per the new act, a fugitive economic offender is a person who has warrants of arrest issued on him/her for involvement in select economic offenses involving an amount of Rs 100 crore or more and has left the country to avoid criminal prosecution.