Banks want to see Vijay Mallya in jail, not recover money: Lawyer

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: With the consortium of banks refusing Vijay Mallya's proposal to pay over Rs 6000 crore in the IDBI Bank loan default case, his lawyers on Tuesday said the banks' intention were no longer to recover money but to see the business man in jail.

Rejecting Vijay Mallya's proposal, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the beleaguered business to discloses all his assets, including the overseas assets held by him, his estranged wife and children to the banks with whom he has defaulted.

"We don't find any tangible objection in disclosing the assets (of Mallya, his wife and children) to banks," a bench comprising Justices Kurian Joseph and R F Nariman said.

However, senior advocates C S Vaidyanathan and Parag Tripathi, appearing for Mallya and his companies respectively, submitted that he was a "defaulter but not a wilful defaulter" and "here this is a case of business failure and not that of wilful default".

The lawyers further alleged that the banks' intentions were to see Vijay Mallya and not recover the money.

Vijay Mallya's Lawyer also tells the court that banks' intention is no longer just to recover money but also see Mallya in jail. — ANI (@ANI_news) April 26, 2016

Vaidyanathan submitted the accumulated loans of Kingfisher Airlines stood at Rs 16,000 crore in 2013 and all loans were given on the basis of personal assets of Mallya which is in the records of the banks. That being the case the liabilities cannot be attached to his estranged wife living abroad and NRI children who are protected under the law from disclosing their overseas assets, he contended.

Mallya has defaulted on repayment of loans of Rs 9,400 crore to a State Bank of India-led consortium.

With Mallya having left India on March 2 and refusing to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and a special court on three occasion, questions have been raised as to whether he would ever return to appear before court.

C S Vaidyanathan, appearing for Mallya, however, said he has no instruction on his return.

Vijay Mallya's Lawyer tells the court that he has no instruction on when Mallya returns to India. — ANI (@ANI_news) April 26, 2016

Vijay Mallya, who is also facing a non-bailable arrest warrant, 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).