Fugitive Vijay Mallya gets relief from London court

India's fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya gets relief from London court. The London High Court allowed him to withdraw his expenses from the money deposited. Mallya fled the UK in 2016, taking loans from 17 Indian banks.


Vijay Mallya, former head of Kingfisher Airlines, owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to 17 Indian banks. He left India and fled to Britain on 2 March 2016. The London High Court has given some relief to India's fugitive liquor businessman Vijay Mallya on the economic front. The court has allowed Mallya to withdraw about 1.1 million pounds from his deposited money to live and meet legal expenses.

Judge Nigel Burnett of the Sub-Court of Insolvency and Company Affairs presided over the hearing regarding the withdrawal of money from the Court Fund Office. The hearing took place under the insolvency action being taken by Indian banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) for not repaying the loan. Through this order, Mallya has been allowed to withdraw money from the court to meet legal expenses concerning his stay and opposition to the bankruptcy petition. Mallya, the former head of Kingfisher Airlines, is on bail in the UK and has lost another legal battle to extradite India to face fraud and money laundering charges.

Mallya owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to 17 Indian banks. He left India and fled to Britain on 2 March 2016. Indian agencies appealed to the UK court for Mallya's extradition and after a long battle, the UK court on 14 May sealed Mallya's extradition appeal to India. However, due to legal bets, it has not been brought to India yet.

The British High Commission in India said that there are some legal complexities before Mallya's extradition and his solution is needed. Under British law, no one can be extradited until all matters are resolved. The High Commission said in June last year, 'This is a secret matter and we will not go into its details. We also cannot tell how long it will take to resolve this matter. We are trying to solve this quickly.

 

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