Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya on Tuesday criticised Indian public sector banks for allegedly withholding details of recoveries from his assets, saying they should be “ashamed” for not providing a full account despite official confirmation that Rs 14,100 crores had been restored. In a post on X, Mallya wrote that he would not take any legal action in the United Kingdom until the banks disclosed complete recovery details, noting that his counterclaim could only be adjudicated in India.
In a related development, Mallya has withdrawn his application seeking to annul a UK bankruptcy order ahead of a scheduled High Court hearing in London. This allows the “Trustee in Bankruptcy” to continue tracing and seizing his assets to help a consortium of Indian banks, led by the State Bank of India (SBI), recover an estimated £1.05 billion linked to his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.
A hearing to set directions for the annulment plea was vacated after Mallya’s legal team filed a notice of discontinuance last week. UK law firm TLT LLP, representing the banks, said the trustee could now continue investigating and realising assets without any hindrance from the withdrawn application.
Earlier in April, Justice Anthony Mann upheld the bankruptcy order, which dates back more than four years. “The bottom line in relation to this is that the bankruptcy order stands,” the judge said. Mallya’s annulment plea, filed through Zaiwalla & Co., argued that the banks’ debts had already been recovered in India, but the discontinuation followed limited progress on a related writ petition in India seeking details of recoveries. Legal experts say Mallya could revive the annulment application depending on developments in India.
The dispute dates back to 2017, when Indian banks registered a Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) judgment in the UK based on a personal guarantee Mallya had provided for Kingfisher Airlines loans. After being served a bankruptcy petition in 2018 and a series of hearings,including the granting of a worldwide freezing order, the UK High Court finally declared Mallya bankrupt on July 26, 2021.
Meanwhile, Mallya remains on bail in the UK as a confidential legal matter, believed to relate to an asylum application, is under consideration.
