“The amount as sought by applicant banks stands attached”, the DRT’s presiding officer, judge R Benakanahalli, said in his order.
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The Enforcement Directorate registered a money laundering case on Monday against Vijay Mallya while a tribunal said he can not touch the Rs 515 crore he got from selling a liquor company as troubles mounted for the tycoon.
Beleaguered liquor-baron Vijay Mallyareceived a major setback today as the local bench of Debt RecoveryTribunal (DRT) ordered restraining him from having any accessto the Dollars 75 severance deal with British liquor major Diageo afterhe had sold majority stakes of United Spirits Ltd to it, earlier. Three other applications filed by SBI before the Tribunal will come up for hearing on 28th of this month.
Based on the SBI lawyer, Mallya’s now-defunct Kingfisher Flight owes a massive Rs. 10 including substance interest within the leftover mixed loans of Rs. 7 to the range, 800 crore lent between 2004-12 before it turn off consequently and had been seated.
In another development, the Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to hear a plea by Mr Mallya against SBI’s decision to name him a “wilful defaulter” , citing jurisdiction issues.
Mallya resigned last month as chairman of United Spirits Ltd., maker of McDowell’s No. 1 whiskey and Romanov vodka, which Diageo Plc bought in April 2014. He was to take on a ceremonial title as founder emeritus of the Diageo unit. Both cases are related to loans given to the Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines, which stopped flying in October 2012.
Efforts are being made to reach a one-time settlement with lenders, and any deal will also cover future payments to them, Mallya said in an e-mailed statement to media Sunday night.
Mallya did not disclose how much debt was under discussion, but said the settlement would be based on additional payments to the banks, which he said has already recovered 24.94 billion rupees ($371.98 million).
Mallya and the top executives of the erstwhile KFA have been booked under Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), Rawal said. The banks have alleged that Mallya owes them up to Rs 7,200 crore.
The larger question however is the kind of rules and norms that banks follow for everyday individuals don’t seem to be applying when it comes to high net worth individuals like Mallya who seem to be getting the soft end of the stick be it the banks or the law.
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“It is not that (only) Mallya’s airline was suffering losses, but other airlines around world also suffered – Swiss Air, the Indian Airlines and four U.S. airlines, also suffered huge losses”.
