London Court Refuses to Release Vijay Mallya Rs 8 Crore to Pay his Indian legal fees

LONDON: A London court has refused to pay more than £ 758,000 (Rs 7.8 crore) to the liquor court tribunal Vijay Mallya to pay his legal fees in India.

Justice Miles, in the Chancery Court of Appeal in the High Court of London, on Wednesday dismissed a 65-year-old man’s appeal against a lower court decision on February 8 not to pay his Indian $ 292 fine in court following the sale of his € 3.2 million property at Le Grand Jardin in Cannes , France.

The judge said no deterioration and no invoices were supporting the required prices. “Banks have repeatedly asked for this information, and Mallya has had many opportunities to provide it. However, Mallya did not provide details of any steps that could be taken in Indian proceedings in the future that could affect extradition requestdition,” ” the judge said.

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Mallya’s lawyer, Philip Marshal, had argued that Indian lawyers would not continue to work without pay. He said the Indian cases were closely linked to the extradition case, and if Mallya was booming in India, he might have defenses against the extradition process in the UK. The Mallya state-owned federation of state banks owes £ 1 billion (Rs 10,800 crore), and from June 2020, they want to make Mallya collapse in Britain.

The court heard that Mallya wanted £ 554,000 (Rs 5.7 crore) to pay legal costs to Mumbai law firm Bachubhai Munim & Co and attorney general Amit Desai.

The judge said that paying Indian lawyers would mean “choosing Indian lawyers as debtors in the event of Mallya’sMallya’s collapse” and that any proposed costs should “benefit all creditors.”

Marshall had submitted a letter from Bachubhai Munim & Co dated February 26, 2021, suggesting how their costs could be verified against banks involving an Indian judge acting as a forensic expert.

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Justice Miles said the letter was “unsatisfactory because it would involve placing Indian legal costs in the hands of an Indian expert the UK court would not be able to control” and that “an inadequate attempt to file warrants. Which was lacking in evidence-based practice”.

The acquittal was initially postponed for six months to allow Indian cases to proceed and for Mallya to pay his debt. The hearing will now take place on July 26, when the judge will decide whether to rule on the businessman’s plight immediately.

“The Indian epidemic has had a profound effect on the continuation of Indian court cases, and there is no reason for the court to conclude that any action to be taken in the Indian trial between now and July 2021 will have certain implications for the application for extradition. Furthermore, most of the money demanded was from historical sources, “Miles said, noting that the Indian lawyers” were willing to do the work they did without confirmation. “

Mallya was ordered to pay 95% of bank charges in the case. Marshall has indicated he will take the matter to the appellate court. However, Miles granted Mallya’s request for an appeal against the costs of the hearing at the hearing on February 8. Mallya was ordered to pay 50% of the banking costs, and Miles decided that instead, it should be a cost in this case.