Supreme Court orders Vijay Mallya to disclose details of assets by April 21

Vijay Mallya’s total outstanding loan is over Rs 9000 crore, according to the consortium of 17 public sector banks (PSBs).

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Vijay Mallya speaks to the media during a news conference in Mumbai. (Reuters photo)

The Supreme Court Thursday directed founder-owner of Kingfisher Airlines, Vijay Mallya, to truthfully declare all assets owned by him and his immediate family after SBI-led consortium of public sector banks (PSBs) trashed his Rs 4,000-crore loan repayment proposal. According to the banks, Mallya owes over Rs 9,000 crore to PSBs.

A bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and Rohinton F Nariman, prima facie, also agreed with banks which contended that Mallya’s presence is “absolutely necessary” for a meaningful negotiation on loan repayment schedule. The bench asked Mallya’s counsel to get instructions from the elusive liquor baron when he will be back to India for an “effective dialogue” with the consortium of 17 lending banks to clear all dues.

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The top court further asked Mallya’s counsel to indicate the amount he is willing to deposit with it to show his bonafide and sought his formal response in an affidavit by April 21. “The consortium is not against a negotiated settlement, provided Mallya shows the bonafide for a meaningful settlement. As a pre-condition, he should disclose on oath details of all properties, moveable and immoveable, tangible and intangible, shareholdings in companies and trust, investments and partnerships etc in India and abroad as on March 31, 2016,” the bench stated in its order.

The proceeding on Thursday began with banks’ counsel Shyam Divan and S S Nagananda informing the court that Mallya’s offer to pay Rs 2,000 crore upfront and another Rs 2,000 crore by September is not acceptable to them. They added that Mallya has been informed about the rejection of the offer and a revised proposal was mooted by his representatives a day ago but it was also not satisfactory and the chances of getting the money looked distant.

Divan submitted that the negotiated settlement of the dues was always better but for that Mallya needs to declare his assets fully and fairly. “His presence would also accelerate the process tremendously and lead to effective dialogue with some benchmark within a reasonable horizon,” he added.

In agreement with the banks, the bench asked Mallya’s counsel senior advocates C S Vaidyanthan and Parag Tripathi, “What about your presence?” The counsel replied they would take instructions and apprise the bench about Mallya’s return on April 26, the next date of hearing.

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Mallya’s counsel added that they have got the response from the banks on their previous offers recently and that they would two weeks for a further consideration and disclosure of all assets.

Meanwhile, the court also allowed a plea by Oriental Bank of Commerce led consortium to make its submission in the pending case filed by another consortium of 17 banks led by State Bank of India.