New Delhi: Fugitive Vijay Mallya, who was declared a fugitive from India, got a tremendous setback from the London High Court on Monday. The London High Court declared Vijay Mallya bankrupt. With this, a consortium of Indian banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) won the case related to the recovery of loans given to Mallya’s company Kingfisher Airlines. This decision of the London High Court has now opened the way for confiscation of Vijay Mallya’s property. However, there is also talk of Mallya appealing against the order of the High Court.
During a virtual hearing in May 2021, the London HC had upheld an application to amend the bankruptcy petition of banks in favor of waiving their security on the assets of a distressed businessman in India. Banks had accused the 65-year-old businessman of trying to hang matters and called for the bankruptcy petition to be brought to an end. It is known that Vijay Mallya is out on bail in the UK, while a confidential legal matter is resolved in connection with the extradition proceedings.
The SBI-led consortium includes Bank of Baroda, Corporation Bank, Federal Bank Ltd., IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Jammu, and Kashmir Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Mysore, UCO Bank, United Bank of India, and JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Company Pvt Ltd as well as an additional creditor. are following a bankruptcy order in respect of a judgment loan in the UK, which exceeds £1 billion.
Recently, a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) recovered Rs 792.12 crore by selling shares of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines. This information was given by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on 16 July. In the Vijay Mallya case, these shares were handed over by the ED to the consortium. Earlier, the same consortium had recovered Rs 7,181.50 crore through the liquidity of properties handed over by the ED. Apart from this, banks have been allowed to confiscate assets worth Rs 1,060 crore by the Fugitive Economic Offenses Court in the Nirav Modi case. The ED has seized Rs 329.67 crore under the provisions of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.
