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Vijay Mallya seeks to 'undo damage to his reputation' due to bankruptcy order, wishes to appeal

On July 26 last year, a British court granted a bankruptcy order against fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, paving the way for a consortium of Indian banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) to pursue a worldwide freezing order to seek repayment of debt owed by the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

ET Now Digital

Updated Jun 28, 2022, 08:55 IST

New Delhi: Indian fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya wants to appeal his bankruptcy order to “undo the damage done to his reputation and to him economically,” his advocate Richard Hill QC told the London high court on Monday.

The bankruptcy petition against Mallya in London was filed by the SBI-led consortium for failing to clear a judgment debt of £1.05 billion (Rs 10,122 crore) determined by the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT), Karnataka five years back in 2017, which was registered in the English courts.

Mallya’s barrister told the chancery division of the court that the judge who made the bankruptcy order against the fugitive businessman on July 26, 2021, in the UK, didn’t took note of the assets that the Indian banks had already seized.

Moreover, the judge also ignored Mallya's ongoing court proceedings in India to challenge the 11.5 per cent interest rate on the DRT judgment debt, Hill said.

On July 26, 2021, a British court granted a bankruptcy order against Mallya, paving the way for a consortium of Indian banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) to pursue a worldwide freezing order to seek repayment of debt owed by the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Hill further told the HC that the Indian banks, having realised Mallya’s assets, now held the cash for “all of the principal on the judgment debt and a large portion of the interest part of it” and the only unpaid bit was “a disputed part of interest” that Mallya was disabled from paying because of the attachment of his assets.

The 66-year-old businessman, wanted in India on fraud and money laundering charges, also wishes to appeal the amended petition brought against him.

Meanwhile, the banks are appealing the ruling that their original bankruptcy petition breached insolvency laws for their failure to declare they held security over some of Mallya’s assets in India. The banks had to vow to give up their security over the businessman’s Indian property in the event that a bankruptcy order is made, in the amended petition.

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