LONDON: Vijay Mallya has withdrawn his application seeking to annul a UK bankruptcy order, just days before it was scheduled for hearing in a London court on Monday.
The decision clears the way for the “Trustee in Bankruptcy” to continue tracing and recovering assets on behalf of a consortium of Indian banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI). The group is seeking repayment of a judgment debt of about 1.05 billion pounds owed by Mallya’s now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.
“The Trustee in Bankruptcy will be able to continue their work in investigating and realising assets within Mallya’s bankruptcy estate without any hindrance that this application might have caused,” UK law firm TLT LLP, representing the banks, said in a statement.
The development follows an April ruling by High Court Judge Anthony Mann, who upheld the bankruptcy order that has been in place for over four years. “The bottom line is that the bankruptcy order stands,” the judge had stated.
Mallya, who is wanted in India on charges of fraud and money laundering, had challenged the 2021 bankruptcy order through his lawyers, Zaiwalla & Co., arguing that the banks’ dues had already been recovered in India. However, his annulment plea is believed to have been dropped because a related writ petition in India-seeking disclosure from banks on recoveries made-has not moved forward.
Legal experts indicate that a fresh annulment application may be filed later, as the progress of proceedings in India remains key to any such move in the UK courts.
The case dates back to 2017, when the consortium of banks registered the Indian Debt Recovery Tribunal’s (DRT) judgment in the English courts, linked to a personal guarantee Mallya had given for loans extended to Kingfisher Airlines. The banks subsequently issued a bankruptcy petition against him in 2018, leading to a series of hearings that culminated in a bankruptcy order on July 26, 2021.
Meanwhile, Mallya continues to be on bail in the UK in connection with India’s extradition request, as a confidential legal matter – believed to involve an asylum application – remains unresolved.
