Indian banks are trying to declare tycoon Vijay Mallya bankrupt

Last Friday, the High Court of London held hearings on the bankruptcy of the Indian alcohol tycoon Vijay Mallya. A consortium of Indian banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) is interested in the results of the process. Financial organizations are trying to collect debts from the businessman on loans for the Kingfisher Airlines, previously owned by the tycoon.

Insolvency Judge (ICC) Michael Briggs presented their final arguments in the case after the necessary amendments to the petition had been made. The judge promises to announce the final decision in the next few weeks.

Last spring, Indian banks, including a financial asset restructuring organization, applied to a British court after India's state bank had declared Vijay Mallya insolvent in December 2019.

The bankruptcy petition was backed by a £ 1.05 billion debt of Kingfisher Airlines, which went bankrupt in 2013.

The owner of the airline acted as a guarantor for loans issued to the airline by banks. As a result, the judge decided to postpone the consideration to a later date to enable Mallya to pay off his debts. Now the parties have returned to the consideration of the issue.

While the issue of a possible bankruptcy is being considered, the businessman himself continues to be on bail. His misadventures began back in 2016, as soon as Mallya left India, having moved to the UK with his children. After a while, Indian law enforcement agencies demanded the extradition of the businessman to his historical homeland, where he was accused of financial fraud and money laundering.

On December 10, 2018, a London court ruled to extradite the tycoon to India. After that, the businessman got the opportunity to challenge the decision in the court of appeals. When Vijay Mallya's complaint was dismissed in April 2020, a motion was filed with the UK Supreme Court. As a result, by October 2020, it became clear that the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not plan to extradite the tycoon, since it was dealing with a "confidential" legal issue.

According to experts, Mallya’s extradition may not take place, despite the existence of a bilateral agreement between India and Great Britain, concluded in 1993.

The fact is that during the entire period of its operation, London did extradite a single subject to the former colony. Moreover, even if this happens, Mallya is unlikely to end up in jail, since he has enough funds to cover the debt obligations.

We should recall that the extravagant 65-year-old tycoon became the prototype of the protagonist of the Bollywood film Calendar Girls. At the age of 28, he became the head and owner of the United Breweries Group (it owns the Kingfisher beer brand, which occupies more than 50% of the beer market in India). Since 2008, he has been a co-owner of the Formula 1 Force India team.

Born into a Brahmanic family, the hereditary entrepreneur Mallya multiplied the financial wealth inherited from his father. Mallya himself previously told reporters that he did not plan to return to India, since his entire family and close friends have long lived in the United States and Great Britain.