An application has been successfully filed by 12 Indian banks and a financial institution in a UK high court to freeze liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s assets worth nearly Rs 10,000 crore. The documents filed at the Queen’s Bench Division of the high court of justice state that the freezing order came on Nov. 24 but Mallya is seeking that the order be set aside.
Mallya’s application that sought to set aside the freezing order was filed on Dec. 7. The claim brought by the Indian banks against the 61-year-old embattled businessman will come up for a hearing in April next year, according to the court document.
“The First Respondent’s (Mallya) application to set aside the Freezing Injunction is to be set down for hearing on the first available date after 11 April 2018 with a time estimate of 2 days,” states the court document, PTI reported.
As of now, Mallya is entitled to get only £5,000 a week and has requested the court that while his assets are frozen, the allowance should be raised to £20,000.
The 13 Indian banks that have been listed as applicants in the litigation in the Queen’s Bench Division of the commercial court in England’s High Court of Justice are as follows: State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Corporation Bank, Federal Bank Ltd, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Mysore, UCO Bank, United Bank of India and JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Co. Pvt Ltd.
The respondents listed are Mallya and related concerns — Ladywalk LLP, Rose Capital Ventures Ltd and Orange India Holdings.
The banks moved the Commercial Court quoting an order of the Debt Recovery Tribunal, Bengaluru, that Mallya owed them Rs 6,203 crore. They sought enforcement of the Indian judgment in the United Kingdom under the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1933 and the Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments (India) Order 1958. They obtained an order restraining Mallya from moving his assets out of the United Kingdom up to a limit of Rs 9,853 crore and to prevent him from diminishing assets of the same value in or out of the country.
The “freezing order” involves Mallya and related concerns being “restrained until further order, from removing from the jurisdiction any of their assets in the jurisdiction” up to a limit of £1,145,000,000. They cannot in any way dispose of, deal with or diminish the value of any of their assets whether they are inside or outside the jurisdiction up to the same value.
Mallya has until Dec. 22 to give a statement confirming his worldwide assets. A two-day hearing will take place in April.
“English court freezing orders impose onerous obligations. If full and frank disclosure is not provided, the courts will likely fine or imprison a defendant. It is therefore imperative that Mallya complies with all the court orders,” Pavani Reddy, the managing partner of Zaiwalla & Co Solicitors, London, said, the Times of India reported.
Mallya faces accusations that his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines defaulted on loans and interest to a consortium of 17 Indian lenders in 2010. Mallya fled to the United Kingdom in 2016, and his extradition is now being sought by the Indian government.