Banks to SC: Mallya withheld asset info, sue him for contempt

NEW DELHI: The 17-bank consortium led by the State Bank of India (SBI) has moved the Supreme Court against liquor baron Vijay Mallya accusing him of withholding

NEW DELHI: The 17-bank consortium led by the State Bank of India (SBI) has moved the Supreme Court against liquor baron Vijay Mallya accusing him of withholding information about his assets.

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The group wants the top court to initiate contempt proceedings against for not complying with the judicial order directing him to disclose complete details of his properties including financial instruments.

Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi, on Thursday, mentioned the contempt petition before a bench headed by Justice Kurien Joseph, which agreed to hear the plea on July 18.

“It does not include ₹2,500 crore he received from Diago. Also, the property details are incomplete. For instance he mentions of a yatch. But he does not disclose where its location,” the AG added.

SC had in April directed Mallya to disclose all assets — both domestic and foreign — held by him and his family after the creditors rejected his proposal to repay ₹4,000 crore debt his now defunct Kingfisher Airlines owed to the banks.

Mallya, the chairman of United Breweries, had then agreed to disclose the list but requested the court not to pass the information to his creditors. This was declined by the SC that permitted the banks to recover their money as per law. “We don’t see any tangible reason for not disclosing the details to the banks,” the bench said.