London: Fugitive billionaire Vijay Mallya lost bankruptcy petition in UK High Court as Chief Insolvencies and Companies Court (ICC) Judge Michael Briggs handed down his judgment in favour of the banks to declare there is no public policy that prevents a waiver of security rights.
This decision will take a consortium of Indian banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) a step closer in their attempt to recover debt from loans paid out to Mallya’s now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.
Mallya’s barrister Philip Marshall had referenced the witness statements of retired Indian judges in previous hearings to put forth his assertion that there is public interest under Indian law by virtue of the banks being nationalized.
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Justice Briggs, however, found no impediment to the creditors relinquishing their security under Indian law because of the engagement of a principle concerning public interest and favoured the submissions made by retired Indian Supreme Court judge Gopala Gowda at a hearing in December 2020 in this regard, PTI reported.
The Indian banks, represented by the law firm TLT LLP and barrister Marcia Shekerdemian, were also granted costs in totality for the petition hearings.
The liquor baron has been living in the UK since he fled India on March 2, 2016.