The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file an affidavit clarifying whether the settlement process for Vijay Mallya's dues had concluded and whether 'everything is done and dusted'. According to reports from Hindustan Times, Justice Jadhav observed that 'this issue needs to be put to an end. The idea is to move on... otherwise the relations and the economy of the country suffer'. The court stated it would determine the further course of action after hearing the concerned ED deputy director.
Senior advocate Amit Desai, appearing for Mallya, told the court that the 2020 petition challenging the seizure of his assets had become redundant in light of developments over the past six years. As reported by Hindustan Times, Desai argued that Mallya's civil liabilities had now been settled and criticized public sector banks for keeping the matter pending. He claimed that banks had already recovered around ₹15,000 crore from Mallya against the original claimed dues of ₹6,203.35 crore plus interest. According to Live Law, the court orally opined that the commercial disputes pending between former liquor baron Vijay Mallya and the consortium of banks must be put to an end, and that the parties involved must 'move on' as otherwise it will affect the country's economy.
Mallya's original petition challenged an order of a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court allowing a consortium of lender banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) to use assets confiscated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to recover his unpaid dues. According to reports from Hindustan Times, the petition was filed in 2020 when settlement discussions were underway and sought protection for certain assets. In February 2019, the ED told the special PMLA court that it had no objection to the SBI-led consortium liquidating Mallya's confiscated assets to recover the outstanding debts. As reported by Hindustan Times, Desai said circumstances had changed substantially since then and that the petition no longer survived because most of the assets identified in the original proceedings had already been attached and dealt with, with the bench appearing to agree with this argument.
The court made it clear that the developments would have no bearing on the criminal prosecution against Mallya, which must still be 'taken to its logical end'. As reported by Hindustan Times, Mallya is facing multiple legal cases in India relating to alleged loan defaults, fraud, money laundering and financial irregularities linked to those loans. He was charged with criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and criminal misconduct in July 2015 and declared a fugitive economic offender in January 2019. In July 2015, the CBI's Banking Securities & Fraud Cell registered an FIR against him over alleged irregularities in loans taken by Kingfisher Airlines from a consortium of banks led by IDBI Bank. According to Hindustan Times, any closure of the civil or commercial dispute would not bring the criminal proceedings against Mallya to an end.
Mallya left India in March 2016 amid mounting legal pressure and has remained in the United Kingdom since then. He has been contesting his extradition to India to face the criminal charges. According to reports from Hindustan Times, UK courts have approved his extradition to India, but Mallya has continued to remain in the UK by pursuing what has been described as a 'confidential legal matter', widely understood to refer to an application for political asylum**. Following the enactment of the FEO Act in 2018, proceedings were initiated against Mallya under the law, prompting him to approach the high court. The latest proceedings concern the separate commercial dispute over asset recovery, with any decision to close or dispose of the petition not affecting the ongoing criminal proceedings against him.
