Not a single paisa paid, says Justice Nariman before recusing from Vijay Mallya’s case

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Jan 20, 2020: The Supreme Court on Monday told fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya that he hadn’t repaid the money the defunct airlines Kingfisher owed to the banks. “Not a single paisa has come,” Justice Rohinton Nariman remarked as soon a bench led by Chief Justice SA Bobde took up the businessman’s petition to stop proceedings to confiscate his assets as to Hindustan Times reported.

 

 

Justice Nariman recused from the case soon after. Chief Justice Bobde will reconstitute the bench that will hear the case.

Mallya had petitioned the Supreme Court in June last year to seek a stay on confiscation of properties owned by him, arguing that the charges filed against him by the investigative agencies are baseless and the Centre had refused to take him up on his offer to clear his loans.

At the last hearing this month, the Centre’s second most-senior law officer Tushar Mehta had stressed that Mallya and his companies had been saying for years that they will repay the loans “but not a single rupee has been paid so far”.

Mallya’s legal team has argued in the top court that the petition for bankruptcy in the UK should be dismissed because the banks are pursuing the same debt through the Indian courts.

Mallya, who founded the now-defunct Kingfisher airlines, fled to Britain in March 2016 after facing accusations of financial irregularities amounting to over Rs 9,000 crore.

Vijay Mallya was last year declared a fugitive economic offender by a Delhi court that also started proceedings to confiscate his properties.

Mallya has argued that no property other than that of Kingfisher Airlines could be attached.

The Bombay HIgh Court last month rejected Vijay Mallya’s request to stay proceedings before the special court in Mumbai that has taken up money laundering charges against him.