UK court allows sale of 6 posh cars belonging to Vijay Mallya to repay Indian banks

Indian banks that were left in a lurch when liquor baron Vijay Mallya fled the country could be looking at a significant recovery in the days ahead. According to The Times of India, the London High Court recently issued an order stating that the court's enforcement officers are "at liberty to sell" six of the 62-year-old's posh cars to pay off the Rs 10,000 crore debt he owes to the consortium of 13 lenders.

The cars to be sold include four with personalised number plates using his initials VJM. For instance, he owned a Porsche Cayenne with registration 'OO07 VJM' in a nod to James Bond and a 2006 Ferrari F430 with registration 'BO55 VJM', clearly meaning Boss VJM. While his 2014 Range Rover carried the number plate 'F1 VJM', referring to his former ownership of Force India Formula 1 team, he kept things simpler with his 2012 Maybach 62 with VJM1 on the plate.

The October 11 order issued by Justice Cockerill made it clear that the cars mentioned above along with Mallya's 2016 Mini Countryman and a Ferrari F512M must be sold for no less than GBP 404,000.

This development follows a separate UK High Court ruling in May that refused to overturn a worldwide order freezing Mallya's assets, maintaining that the Indian banks were entitled to recover funds. This reportedly marked the first recorded case of a judgment of the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in India being registered by the English High Court, setting a legal precedent. A month later, the London HC granted permission to enforcement officers to enter Mallya's properties near London "to search for and take control of goods belonging to [him]".

Meanwhile, the ruling in Mallya's extradition trial at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London is scheduled for December 10. India has been seeking Mallya's extradition from the UK for trial at home on allegations of money laundering and fund diversion.

Edited by Sushmita Choudhury Agarwal with PTI inputs