New Delhi/ Mumbai, Apr 15 (Agencies): The government on Friday suspended for four weeks a diplomatic passport issued to embattled tycoon Vijay Mallya, who left the country last month after creditor banks of his defunct Kingfisher Airlines stepped up pressure to recover about Rs 9,400 crore in debt.

The ministry of external affairs has given Mallya, a liquor baron who is also a member of Rajya Sabha, a week to say why his passport should not be impounded or revoked, the ministry's spokesman, Vikas Swarup, said on Friday.

“If he fails to respond within the stipulated time, it will be assumed that he has no response to offer and the MEA will go ahead with the revocation,” Swarup said in a statement.

The Enforcement Directorate, an agency under the finance ministry that investigates financial crime, had advised that Mallya's passport be suspended, he added.

Meanwhile, the ED, which is probing money-laundering charges against Mallya, on Friday moved a special court handling cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in Mumbai, for a non-bailable warrant against him in connection with a Rs.900 crore IDBI loan fraud case. 

Mallya has declined to comply with at least three requests from the ED to appear before it in person, between March 10 and April 2. 

Mallya, 60, has not revealed his whereabouts since his departure on March 2, but has said he was not an absconder.

The creditor banks this month rejected an offer by Mallya to repay part of the loans to Kingfisher, and demanded that the former billionaire attend a hearing in the Supreme Court.