Businessman Vijay Mallya filed an appeal with a British court on December 7 against an order freezing his assets worth £1.15 billion (about Rs 9,900 crore). The order to freeze assets was passed by the court after 12 Indian banks and a financial institution filed a litigation for the purpose on November 23, The Times of India reported on Thursday.
The case, separate from Mallya’s ongoing extradition trial, will come up for a two-day hearing in April.
The claim cited an order by Bengaluru’s Debt Recovery Tribunal, which in January said Mallya was liable to pay around Rs 6,203.35 crore to the banks, along with interests. The amount still unpaid as on November 22 was Rs 9,853.05 crore.
The subsequent “freezing order” restrained Mallya and his firms from removing the assets from the UK up to a limit of £1.15 billion, PTI reported.
The litigation was filed in England’s High Court of Justice by State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Corporation Bank, Federal Bank, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Mysore, UCO Bank, United Bank of India and JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Company.
Mallya is wanted in India on charges of defrauding banks of Rs 9,000 crore. The businessman has been in the UK since March 2016, and the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London is currently hearing India’s case for extraditing the liquor baron.
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