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Business News/ Companies / People/  Vijay Mallya says banks cannot seek details about his foreign assets
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Vijay Mallya says banks cannot seek details about his foreign assets

Vijay Mallya offers Rs1,590 crore to Supreme Court as intent to pay debt

Photo: Hindustan Times (Hindustan Times)Premium
Photo: Hindustan Times
(Hindustan Times)

New Delhi: UB Group chairman Vijay Mallya, in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court on Thursday, stated that Indian banks cannot seek details of assets held by him or his family abroad.

He agreed to disclose a list of assets held by him in India in a sealed envelope to the apex court and has requested it to not pass this information on to banks.

On 7 April, the apex court had directed Mallya to disclose all assets held by him and his family in India and abroad, after a consortium of creditors spurned his offer to repay 4,000 crore to settle the debts of his grounded Kingfisher Airlines Ltd.

The court had also asked Mallya to indicate the amount he could deposit before the court for further negotiations with the banks. To this, Mallya has offered to deposit 1,590 crore with the Supreme Court.

Mallya, a Rajya Sabha member of Parliament, declined to disclose details of his assets abroad stating that he is a non-resident Indian for income tax and foreign exchange purposes since 1988, while his estranged wife and three children are US citizens.

He insisted that the consortium of banks had no right to access details of his overseas assets as the same were not considered while granting loans.

The Supreme Court directive came after a consortium of 17 banks, owed a combined 9,091 crore by Kingfisher Airlines, informed it that Mallya’s offer had been rejected but the banks were willing to join negotiations for a settlement.

In a 13 March statement, Mallya claimed that banks had already recovered 2,494 crore from Kingfisher Airlines since 2013.

Meanwhile, moves to get the businessman to return to India escalated, with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) approaching the ministry of external affairs on Thursday seeking initiation of deportation proceedings against him. The ministry, on 15 April, suspended Mallya’s diplomatic passport—issued to him by virtue of his Rajya Sabha membership—for four weeks on the ED’s request.

On 7 April, the Supreme Court had also sought clarity on Mallya’s return to India.

The businessman flew out of the country on 2 March.

In another development, a district court in Hyderabad convicted Mallya on Thursday in a cheque-bouncing case filed against him by GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd.

The court, however, did not pronounce the quantum of punishment as Mallya was not present in court.

The UB Group declined to comment.

State Bank of India (SBI), which has the biggest loan exposure to Kingfisher Airlines at 1,600 crore, and other banks moved the top court a day after a tribunal blocked Mallya from accessing a $75 million (about 515 crore) payout promised to him by Diageo Plc. SBI declared Mallya a wilful defaulter in November last year.

On 25 February, Diageo agreed to pay Mallya $75 million over five years and drop all charges of financial impropriety against him in return for stepping down as chairman of United Spirits Ltd, a company now controlled by the UK liquor maker.

PTI and Mint’s P.R. Sanjai in Mumbai contributed to this story.

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Published: 21 Apr 2016, 07:55 PM IST
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