Vijay Mallya believes Indian banks pursuing bankruptcy proceedings against him in the English courts have assumed an “unreal quality” in the wake of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s recent statement in Parliament and has instructed his lawyers to pursue an annulment application.
It emerged as Justice Anthony Mann reserved judgment, to be handed down at a later date after hearings of three interlinked appeals related to Mallya's bankruptcy order concluded at the High Court in London this week.
The initial appeal, dubbed the security appeal, contests Judge Briggs’ ruling that the banks, represented by TLT LLP and barrister Tony Beswetherick, cannot deny holding security over some of Vijay Mallya’s assets due to an earlier Indian court decision that estops them from doing so.
Alongside this, two additional appeals were heard: one challenging changes made to a bankruptcy order and another targeting the bankruptcy order itself, issued in July 2021. Mallya was represented in these proceedings by Zaiwalla and Co. lawyer Kartik Mittal and barrister Mark Watson-Gandy.
“From Dr Mallya’s perspective, these English bankruptcy proceedings have an unreal quality,” Leigh Crestohl, Managing Partner of Zaiwalla and Co–Mallya’s recently appointed lawyers, told PTI.
“Evidence has now come to light that shows that the banks’ debt has not only been paid but, moreover, the banks have recovered in excess of what was due from Dr Mallya. This was confirmed by the Honourable Finance Minister of India, Shrimati Nirmala Sitharaman, in a statement she made in the Indian Parliament on 17 December 2024, in which she confirmed that a sum of INR 14,131.6 crore has been collected and restored to the banks,” he said.
In a separate matter, Mallya remains on bail in the UK amid India’s extradition efforts, pending the outcome of a “confidential” legal issue, thought to be tied to an asylum claim. Separately wanted in India on fraud and money laundering charges, Mallya took to social media a day after Sitharaman’s Lok Sabha statement to claim he was "entitled to relief" in the matter.
In a post on X dated December 18 last year, he said: “Unless the ED (Enforcement Directorate) and banks can legally justify how they have taken more than two times the debt, I am entitled to the relief which I will pursue.”
The legal saga, involving the State Bank of India and other banks, traces back to May 2018 when a worldwide freezing order (WFO) was secured by the banks, stemming from a ruling by the Bangalore Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT). Since that time, the case has seen multiple hearings, culminating in the July 26, 2021, bankruptcy order against Mallya, with appeals continuing to unfold.
Mallya has consistently rejected allegations of misconduct, asserting that the Indian banks are redundantly chasing the same debt—linked to his now-defunct airline—in both India and the UK.