Vijay Mallya cannot use pendency of plea to stall insolvency proceedings against him in other jurisdictions: SC

The Supreme Court on Monday said that Vijay Mallya cannot use pendency of his plea in the apex court to stall insolvency proceedings initiated against him in other jurisdictions. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde passed the order after the Centre told the top court that Mallya used pendency of his plea to stall the UK court from delivering verdict in insolvency proceedings, according to a PTI report. Mallya had approached the apex court on 27 June seeking a stay on the confiscation of properties owned by him and his relatives. In the petition, Mallya had said that no other properties other than that of Kingfisher Airlines facing cases of alleged irregularities should be attached. [caption id=“attachment_6028671” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Vijay Mallya. PTI[/caption] On 11 July, the Bombay High Court had refused to grant stay on proceedings before a special court on confiscation of Mallya’s properties. The division bench of the court had dismissed an application filed by Mallya in June seeking a stay on the proceedings before the special court hearing cases pertaining to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). On 5 January 2019, the special PMLA court declared Mallya a fugitive economic offender. The court then started proceedings for confiscation of his properties. Mallya, who is currently in the UK, has been charged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) with defaulting on bank loans to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore. He is also facing an extradition trial in the UK.