K Giriprakash

With the UK court’s ruling going against him, Vijay Mallya’s future appears uncertain at this point in time.

He might at best be able to delay his departure by a few more months but will have to eventually return to India.

The only time Mallya was arrested in India was during the 80s, that was about a case involving FERA violations. He was let off the next morning but this time around, things may not turn out that way.

While describing the case as a jigsaw puzzle with different pieces of massive evidence to be put together to paint a picture, the judge said she was now able to see ‘more clearly’ than a few months ago. “There are clear signs that the banks seem to have gone against their own guidelines (in sanctioning some of the loans),” she observed.

Regarding the contention of Mallya’s lawyer that the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai was unfit to house humans, the judge said that issues relating to prison conditions were secondary. Hence, the issue of “inhuman” conditions at the jail was never a priority.

A long-drawn battle

The Narendra Modi Government may be jubilant over the verdict but the bigger issue will be about how the law enforcement agencies, as well as the lenders, deal with Mallya once he returns. It is quite obvious that Mallya will employ a battery of lawyers to defend him just as he did in India by filing counter-cases against lenders. It will surely be a long-drawn affair but one that will keep the public riveted.

Mallya faces a multitude of cases, ranging from defrauding banks to money laundering to round-tripping of United Spirits shares. A few of them are also related to criminal cases and hence a longer jail term is more of a possibility now for the man who was known for spending more time aboard his fancy jets than at home.

More than anything else, all those who were involved with Mallya either in getting loans for his Kingfisher Airlines or while acquiring Deccan Aviation’s Air Deccan will be under scrutiny and there is a good possibility that along with Mallya quite a few big names might face jail terms too.

Mallya will also, at some point in time, have to return to the UK as he faces a trial related to a case filed by the Swiss banking giant UBS seeking to possess his London mansion over non-repayment of a mortgage loan. The court has asked Mallya to pay £88,000 to the bank in a preliminary hearing. The trial will be held in May 2019.

A close associate of Mallya and a former top official of the UB Group told BusinessLine that there was never a case against Mallya. “How does the government expect that such a huge airline can function without getting loans from outside agencies? Once the airline started defaulting on the loans, it could have encashed the guarantees instead of dragging its feet,” he said.

With the UK Court stating that Mallya’s fears regarding a fair trial in India are unfounded, he will have a lot to answer for.

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