Mallya flew out of India on March 2 , Centre tells SC
NEW DELHI / BENGALURU: Industrialist Vijay Mallya left India on March 2 despite huge outstanding loans and was most likely headed for England where he possessed several assets, attorney general Mukul Rohatgi told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Rohatgi said the value of Mallya’s assets outside India far exceeded the unpaid loan amount owed to banks. The statement came on a day British liquor giant Diageo Plc said it had already paid Mallya ` 269 crore of a ` 515-crore settlement plan.
“On March 2, banks moved the DRT (Debt Recovery Tribunal) for freezing his passport and stopping him from leaving the country… I am now told by CBI that on March 2, he has left the country,” Rohatgi said.
“Ask him to appear before the Supreme Court and bring his passport… We just want our money back… not after anybody’s blood,” the attorney general told the top court.
Mallya left India despite a “lookout circular” (LOC) against him at the country’s entry and exit points, including airports, indicating lapses by authorities. A consortium of 17 banks — led by State Bank of India (SBI) — approached the SC on Tuesday to bar Mallya from leaving India, worried about the fate of their loans worth thousands of crores given to the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines that he headed.
During the hearing, a bench of justices Kurian Joseph and Rohinton F Nariman questioned the banks on how they gave loans to Mallya without securing adequate assets as guarantee. “Is it permissible?” the bench asked.
The apex court also issued a notice to Mallya, directing his personal appearance in the SC and impounding of his passport.
The bench posted the matter for further hearing on March 30.
Sources told HT Mallya was in London “a short while ago”, but said they were unable to confirm if he was still in town. Edinburghbased sources also said they were unaware of his presence in Scotland, where he had business interests until recently. A spokesperson of the Indian high commission in London said, “We haven’t received anything formally from Delhi.”
The Bombay high court said Wednesday it would hear on March 11 a service tax department plea to recover government dues running into crores from Mallya and other Kingfisher Airlines directors.
MALLYA HAS ALREADY GOT
` 269CR OF ` 515CR DEAL WITH DIAGEO. SOURCES SAY HE WAS IN LONDON ‘A SHORT WHILE AGO’, CAN’T SAY IF HE’S STILL THERE
In Mumbai, a Diageo spokesperson said the first tranche of R269 crore was paid to Mallya at the time of signing the agreement in February and that the next round of payment was due in 2017. On Monday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a money-laundering case against Mallya while the Debt Recovery Tribunal said he could not touch the R515 crore till the matter was decided. The DRT will hear the matter again on March 28. The ED case is based on a CBI probe initiated in October last year into alleged “wilful default” by the high-flying promoter of Kingfisher Airlines on a R900-crore loan in conspiracy with IDBI Bank representatives. SBI, the largest lender to Kingfisher, had approached the DRT in Bengaluru to restrain Mallya from withdrawing the R515 crore he got as a severance package from Diageo, the world’s largest spirits maker. The United Spirits board last year asked Mallya to resign after an internal investigation spearheaded by Diageo found he diverted funds to other companies under his control, a charge he denied. Banks owed money by Kingfisher Airlines have demanded “first right” to the Diageo cash, arguing that they were left with unpaid debts worth R7,000 crore when the company collapsed more than three years ago.
SBI declared Mallya — once known as “The King of Good Times” for his flashy lifestyle and lavish parties — a wilful defaulter last month. A wilful defaulter is one who can pay but does not, that is, someone who has the ability to pay but is unwilling to do so.
(Inputs from Prasun Sonwalkar in London)