On 6 January, the Supreme Court of India clarified that Vijay Mallya cannot use his pending proceedings in the top Court to delay insolvency proceedings against him in courts “anywhere else in the world.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the Supreme Court that the State Bank of India has initiated insolvency proceedings against Mallya in a U.K. court, whose verdict has already been reserved. However, Mallya filed an application seeking the U.K. court not to pass any orders in the insolvency case, since his repayment proposal is pending consideration in India.
“They’ve been saying since 2011 that we will pay everything but not a single rupee has been paid so far,” Mehta told the Supreme Court on the hearing of 6th January.
The three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde held that Mallya, with a malafide intention to stall proceedings going on against him in any other jurisdictions, cannot cite the pending proceedings in Indian Courts.
In March 2016, Mallya who is accused of money laundering by the Enforcement Directorate had fled India and is currently based in London. Reportedly, he owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to 17 Indian banks. In February 2017, India submitted an extradition request to the United Kingdom after he made his self-imposed exile clear.
Further, on 1 January a Mumbai court allowed the banks to utilize the movable assets of Vijay Mallya to recover the amount he owes them.
