JOIN USThe State Bank of India (SBI) on Wednesday approached the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in Bengaluru seeking the arrest of former UB-group head Vijay Mallya and also impounding of his passport.
The move came to light hours after CBI Director Anil Sinha questioned the delay by banks in acting against Mallya-founded Kingfisher Airlines Ltd at the 7th CBI conference on “Combating Financial Crimes” here.
Mallya and Kingfisher Airlines owe Rs 7,800 crore to a consortium of 17 lenders led by SBI which had an exposure of over Rs 1,600 crore to the now defunct airline. The loan was not serviced since January 2012. According to sources, the SBI has moved four applications, seeking Mallya’s arrest, impounding his passport, securing the lenders’ first right on the $75-million severance package from Diageo and getting full disclosure of his assets in the country and abroad.
An SBI official confirmed to PTI that the bank has moved the DRT seeking right on the $75-million severance package, as the borrower Mallya, who has already been declared by the bank a wilful defaulter, has decided to leave the country and settle down in London.
Other lenders include the Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Federal Bank, Uco Bank and Dena Bank among others.
Late into action
Earlier in the day, the CBI chief said: “...The CBI has recently registered a case of cheating and fraud against Kingfisher and its erstwhile management involving allegations of defrauding banks to the tune of nearly Rs 7,000 crore. This case was registered in July 2015, but the loans/advances were taken during 2004-2012. However, despite our repeated requests, the banks did not file a complaint with the CBI. We had to register the case on our own initiative.”
Coming to the issue of PACL Group, Sinha said: “The second case relates to PACL Group which has reportedly collected over Rs 51,000 crore of illegal deposits from nearly 5.5 crore investors spread across nearly all states. It needed the Supreme Court to step in to order investigations and later order return of money to the depositors under its supervision. Should not the regulator have suo moto stepped in?”