Fugitive liquor Baron Vijay Mallya was asked to pay a minimum of 200,000 pounds by the United Kingdom High Court due to the costs incurred by 13 banks in their on-going legal battle to recover the dues.
Earlier, Judge Andrew Henshaw refused to pass the order of freezing Vijay Mallya’s assets and upheld an Indian court’s ruling that a fraternity of 13 banks led by State Bank of India was entitled to recover funds that nearly amount to 1.45 billion pounds.
The court also ordered Vijay Mallya to pay costs towards registration of the worldwide freezing order and Debt Recovery Tribunal.
“The court ordered that Mallya pay the banks costs. The standard order is that the court will assess those costs unless the parties can otherwise agree a figure for what should be paid, said a legal expert familiar with the case.
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The court is still assessing the costs which is a separate process. However, the court in the United Kingdom has confirmed that as the assessment is on, he will still have to pay 200,000 pounds for legal cost liability.
The legal costs owed to the banks emerged in a subsequent court order by the same judge.
“The First Defendant’s (Mallya) application for permission to appeal is refused. Any further application for permission to appeal should be made to the Court of Appeal to be dealt with by a judge of that court, the judgment notes.
Alongside to this, the liquor baron is also fighting another case in India for fraud and money laundering. The estimate of the total fraud is Rs 9,000 crores. For now, Vijay Mallya is due for Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London in July and it will also be the final hearing of his extradition case.
Vijay Mallya is out on bail ever since his arrest in April 2017. The Mallya’s lawyer has claimed that the charges against their client are politically motivated and that there is no evidence against him. The lawyers have also questioned the conditions of the Arthur Jail in Mumbai based on human rights ground.