Bad news for fugitive Vijay Mallya, loses appeal against UK…, how will this affect him?

The Indian tycoon lost an appeal against a bankruptcy order made by London's High Court over a more than 1 billion-pound ($1.28 billion) debt to lenders including the State Bank of India (SBI.NS).

Written by: Nivedita Dash Edited by: Nivedita Dash

Published: April 10, 2025, 10:24 AM IST

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https://www.india.com/business/bad-news-for-fugitive-vijay-mallya-loses-appeal-against-uk-how-will-this-affect-him-7745762/ Copy

In more trouble for the Vijay Mallya, the Indian tycoon lost an appeal against a bankruptcy order made by London’s High Court over a more than 1 billion-pound ($1.28 billion) debt to lenders including the State Bank of India (SBI.NS). Mallya, who lives in Britain, has been embroiled in a long legal battle with lenders – as well as the Indian authorities – following the 2012 collapse of his defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Mallya, who was also co-owner the Formula One motor racing team Force India, is separately fighting extradition to India to face fraud charges over Kingfisher Airlines’ collapse. His most recent appeal against his extradition was rejected in 2020

Case against the tycoon

In 2017, a group of banks obtained a judgment in India worth over 1 billion pounds against Mallya, who had guaranteed Kingfisher Airlines’ debt.

That ruling was registered in Britain later that year and led to a bankruptcy order being made against Mallya in 2021. Mallya appealed against the bankruptcy order at a hearing in February, when his lawyers argued the banks had already recovered assets which had effectively settled the debt.

Mallya’s lawyers said in a statement that he would continue to seek to overturn the bankruptcy order.

₹14,131.6 crore recovered

Mallya has claimed that Indian banks have got access to his properties worth ₹14,131.6 crore, more than twice the amount that he owed to public sector banks.

Mallya cited purported reference to the details of restoration done by the Enforcement Directorate against wilful defaulters in the Finance Ministry’s annual report 2024-25 to say that banks have already recovered ₹14,131.8 crore against ₹6,203 crore awarded by the Debt Recovery Tribunal.

But his appeal was rejected on Tuesday, with Judge Anthony Mann saying in a written ruling that “the bottom line … is that the bankruptcy order stands”.