TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi/ In good news for Indian authorities, fugitive business tycoon Vijay Mallya has been declared bankrupt by a court in the United Kingdom on Monday. The development came amid reports of the possible extradition of Mallya who has been seeking permission to stay on in the UK as a refugee, a status that he was fighting for as an asylum seeker.
The move is set to pave the way for a consortium of Indian banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) to pursue a worldwide freezing order to seek repayment of debt owed by the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines. “As at 15.42 [UK time], I shall adjudicate Dr Mallya bankrupt,” Chief Insolvencies and Companies Court (ICC) Judge Michael Briggs said in his ruling during a virtual hearing of the Chancery Division of the High Court.
“I have to decide if there is a real prospect of payment of petition debt in full within a reasonable period of time… there is insufficient evidence that [Mallya’s asset realisations in India] will pay the debt in full within a reasonable period of time,” Judge Briggs noted, in reference to defence arguments pointing to a restoration process in India following a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court order for the attachment of Mallya’s assets.
“In my judgment, the sums provided to date are conditional… there is no evidence Dr Mallya will return to India to deal with the criminal trial and seek to unlock the allocation of realisations which have been made,” the judge concluded.
