Vijay Mallya loses lawsuit in UK as his assets come close to being frozen yet again

Indian business tycoon and fugitive Vijay Mallya, wanted for money-laundering and loan defaults, lost a lawsuit filed by a cluster of Indian Banks for a total loan worth Rs 1.4 lakh crore at the UK high court.

Judge Andrew Henshaw said that all Indian banks waiting for repayment of the loans could now enforce an Indian court hearing and sell the businessman’s assets to recover dues. The court also refused to overturn the worldwide assets freeze for Mallya. The worldwide freezing order prevents Mallya from moving any of his assets out of the UK.  

The attorneys defending Mallya refused to make any statements after the judgment. The court refused to make any further appeals to Tuesday’s hearing which would mean that attorneys would have to directly petition the Court of Appeal.

He had various fraud and money-laundering allegations on him in India as well as in the UK. He has fled the country since and moved to the UK in 2016 and was arrested in the UK a year back. Due to his frozen assets, he was forced to live on a 5000 pound budget per week which was later was increased to 20 thousand after a plea by his attorney.

Mallya who had set up a premium airlines company in 2005 shut down seven years later and has been on the run after a crackdown since the Supreme Court order in 2016.

A court in London is hearing a case on him for his extradition to India to face trial on the grounds of fraud and money laundering.