Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: In a major blow, the Supreme Court has directed beleaguered liquor baron Vijay Mallya to disclose all his assets, including the overseas assets held by him, his estranged wife and children to the banks with whom he has defaulted.
The apex court has asked him to submit the details of the assets in a sealed envelope.
The direction came after the court noted the unwillingness of Mallya to return to India and personally appear before it.
Earlier, Mallya claimed that he was an NRI and that his overseas assets, including that of his wife and children were not obligated to be disclose. He also stated that his overseas assets were not taken into consideration while taking loan.
According to PTI, the court has also directed the Bengaluru-based debts recovery tribunal (DRT) to dispose of the matter pending before it expeditiously, possibly within two months.
A consortium of banks on Monday had filed an affidavit alleging that liquor baron Vijay Mallya was not cooperating in the probe initiated against him, and has refrained from disclosing his foreign assets.
Vijay Mallya allegedly owes over Rs 9,000 crore to around 17 banks.
The beleaguered business, who left India on March 2, has refused to return to India and failed to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and a special court on three occasions.
Following this, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the Supreme Court that Vijay Mallya was a fugitive from justice in India.
And while the SC has also asked the DRT to settle Mallya's case in 2 months, experts are of the opinion that selling of Mallya's assets in India may not have takers or generate enough funds to pay up the loan defaults.
The only solution that the legal experts see is that lending banks and the business tycoon arrive at a one-time settlement. Selling of assets can take years, and DRT cannot possibly do it in two months.
Facing a non-bailable arrest warrant, Mallya had recently told the Supreme Court that he was prepared to deposit an additional Rs 2,468 crore over and above the earlier offer of Rs 4,400 crore against the demand of Rs 9,000 crore by a consortium of banks led by State Bank of India (SBI).
