Don't Let Mallya Fly Out, Banks Urge SC

18 banks approached SC seeking direction to restrain the liquor baron from leaving India in the wake of the `9,000 crore advance loans to his firm.

NEW DELHI: The ghost of Kingfisher continues to haunt Vijay Mallya. Led by the country’s largest public sector State Bank of India

17 other banks on Tuesday approached the Supreme Court seeking direction to restrain the liquor baron from leaving India in the wake of the `9,000 crore advance loans to his firm.

Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for banks including SBI, mentioned the case before a bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice U U Lalit for urgent hearing since Mallya is an NRI. “List it for hearing tomorrow,” the bench said. SBI was the first to flag Mallya as a ‘wilful defaulter’ to the Reserve Bank of India.

In the appeal, the banks assailed the March 4 order of the Karnataka High Court which had refused an ex-parte ad interim order against Mallya, Diageo Plc and United Spirits Limited.

The consortium is struggling to recover `6,963 crore debt due from Kingfisher Airlines. The banks said the High Court should have passed an interim order, securing their financial interests, without hearing the industrialist and others.