Bombay HC demands end to fugitive Mallya’s decade-long bank battle

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has called for an end to the decade-long commercial disputes between fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya and the banks, warning that prolonged litigation over his assets could adversely affect the country’s financial system.

The intervention came in Mallya’s 2020 petition challenging a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court order allowing a consortium led by the State Bank of India (SBI) to use assets seized by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Mallya became a fugitive from India after Kingfisher Airlines defaulted on loans of around ₹9,000 crore. He left for the UK in March 2016 and was declared a fugitive economic offender in 2019. His assets were subsequently attached as part of the recovery and legal proceedings.

A bench headed by Justice Milind Jadhav has asked the ED to provide details on the status of the investigation and the assets currently under attachment. The court stressed that the long-running dispute should now move towards a practical and logical resolution rather than continuing through unnecessary legal battles.

Separately, another Bombay High Court bench comprising Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad had considered Mallya’s challenges to proceedings under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act. In February, the court said his petitions could not be considered while he remained outside its jurisdiction and indicated that he would have to return to India. His lawyer, Amit Desai, argued that UK travel restrictions prevented an immediate return and that the petitions could still be heard in his absence, citing Supreme Court precedents.

The latest observations come as legal efforts to bring Mallya back to India continue, with the court stressing that prolonged asset disputes serve neither the financial system nor the interests of justice.