Vijay Mallya takes a dig at resolutions under IBC; points out high haircuts taken by banks

Former promoter of United Breweries and Kingfisher Airlines Vijay Mallya has taken to social media platform X peeving about how the government of India recovered Rs 14,00 crore from him and his companies against total debt of Rs 6,203 crore.

Taking a dig at the insolvency and bankruptcy code (IBC) Mallya, who now lives in London and claims himself to be the targeted of the Indian government, has twitted a list of resolutions under IBC, where the haircuts for banks are as high as 95%. He specially points out the case of Siva Industries, where the company was allowed to be acquired by the father-in-law of the promoter with banks taking 95% haircut. The creditors handed over the company to promoter’s father-in-law for Rs 320 crore against total dues of 4,800 crore.

Mallya Tweets: “Finally, against a DRT judgement debt of Rs 6,203 crores, admitted recovery of Rs 14,131.8 crores which will be evidence in my UK Bankruptcy annulment application. Wonder what Banks will say in an English Court”.

Vijay Mallya has described the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings against him in the UK courts as having taken on an “unreal quality” in light of recent remarks made by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament. The embattled businessman has instructed his new legal team to file an application seeking annulment of the bankruptcy order against him.

This development surfaced as Justice Anthony Mann at the High Court in London reserved his judgment in a set of three related appeals concerning Mallya’s 2021 bankruptcy order. The cases involve a consortium of Indian banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) seeking to recover a debt of approximately GBP 1.05 billion stemming from loans to the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Mallya in December 2024 had posted on X that whatever he had stated about his liabilities as guarantor of KFA loans was legally verifiable. “Yet more than Rs 8,000 crores have been recovered from me over and above the judgement debt. Will anyone, including those who freely abuse me, stand up and question this blatant injustice ? To be seen to support a much maligned me requires guts. Sadly, no guts for justice particularly for me,” he said.

Mallya faces separate fraud and money laundering charges in India.

The bankruptcy saga began in May 2018, when Indian banks obtained a worldwide freezing order against Mallya based on a ruling by the Bangalore Debt Recovery Tribunal. The formal bankruptcy order was issued in July 2021, but legal challenges around it have continued ever since.

Also See: Shareholders’ fight to save erstwhile Vijay Mallya firm Mcdowell Holdings from insolvency