LONDON: Once the “King of Good Times”, now Vijay Mallya is insolvent and living off his partner, his personal assistant, a business acquaintance and his adult children, a court heard on Wednesday.
The London high court heard that Mallya’s “partner/wife Pinky Lalwani” earns in excess of £150,000 (about Rs 1.35 crore) a year and that the former billionaire has just £328 million (Rs 2,956 crore) left in personal assets, all of which he has put towards his settlement offer in the Karnataka high court.
He stated in his response to a bankruptcy petition presented by 13 Indian banks on September 11, 2018, which will be heard in December 2019, that his children and Lalwani “are supporting him”, the banks’ submissions to the court state.
His personal assistant, Ms Mahal, and a business acquaintance, Mr Bedi, have even advanced sums of £84,000 (Rs 75.7 lakh) and £128,000 (Rs 1.15 crore) to him, respectively, “for living expenses and money owed to Inland Revenue”, Nigel Tozzi QC, representing the 13 Indian banks to whom Mallya owes Rs 11,000 crore, said in these submissions.
Mallya owes more than £1.142 billion to the 13 banks pursuant to the DRT judgment, which was registered in the English courts in 2017, but has made no voluntary payments to date, the court heard.
Mallya also owes £267,000 (about Rs 2.40 crore) to HMRC and an undisclosed sum to his previous lawyers, Macfarlanes, the written arguments by Tozzi disclose. He has also failed to pay £175,000 (Rs 1.57 crore) of the £375,000 (Rs 3.37 crore) he owes the Indian banks in legal costs.
Mallya’s lawyer, John Brisby QC, told the court on Wednesday that Mallya was willing to drop his weekly living allowance — permitted by the court — from £18,000 (Rs 16.21 lakh) a week to £29,500 (Rs 26.57 lakh) a month since the £16,000 (Rs 14.4 lakh) monthly payments he previously had to make on hire purchase agreements “were no longer required”.
The court also heard that South African bank Investec is owed £3.4 million (Rs 30.6 crore) by Mallya and has joined the Indian banks in their bankruptcy petition.
“He cannot on any view satisfy judgment of £1.1 billion. He is insolvent,” Brisby told the court.