Fugitive businessman Vijay Vittal Mallya has told the Bombay High Court that his civil liabilities to a consortium of banks have effectively been settled, with the lenders having recovered approximately ₹15,000 crore against an original claim of about ₹6,203 crore, including interest.

The submission was made by Senior Advocate Amit Desai, appearing for Mallya, in a plea challenging a Special PMLA Court order that allowed the lender consortium to utilise confiscated assets for recovery of debts owed by his companies.

Justice Milind N. Jadhav, however, said Mallya's claim regarding the recovery would have to be verified by the respondents. The Court issued notice to the State Bank of India, the lead bank, and the Deputy Director of the Enforcement Directorate.

“After hearing Mr. Desai and adhering to his submissions having been made, inter alia, with regard to recovery of assets in relation to the debt of companies of Applicant and considering that there are similarly placed 4-5 matters, details of which shall be given to the Court, one of which is at Sr. No. 49 today, it would be appropriate at this juncture to issue notice only to Respondent No.1 - SBI (Lead Bank) and Respondent No. 13 - Deputy Director, Directorate of Enforcement in order to apprise the Court about the aforesaid submissions made by Mr. Desai and further development in the aforesaid ECIR case,” the court noted.

According to Desai, Mallya's “civil liabilities have effectively been settled” as the consortium had recovered approximately ₹15,000 crore against the original claim of ₹6,203 crore, including interest.

The court clarified that the position “needs to be ascertained and confirmed by the Respondents.”

Desai submitted that Mallya's application was filed in January 2020, when discussions over a possible settlement were underway. He said subsequent developments and payments had rendered the proceedings effectively redundant.

He further submitted that most of the assets identified and attached by the Enforcement Directorate in the original proceedings had already been dealt with. Desai also referred to the RBI audit of Mallya's and his company's accounts.

Mallya's application, filed on January 21, 2020, seeks to quash an order dated December 31, 2019 passed by the Special Judge for CBI at Mumbai in proceedings arising from an Enforcement Case Information Report.

The plea challenges the Special PMLA Court's order permitting the lender consortium to utilise confiscated assets for the recovery of debts owed by Mallya's companies.

The High Court clarified that it would decide the further course of action only after hearing the Deputy Director of the ED. It would thereafter consider whether notices should be issued to the other respondents.

The Court also granted Mallya leave and liberty to file an additional affidavit setting out subsequent developments having a bearing on the issue. A copy of the affidavit is to be served on SBI and the ED for their response.

The application filed in 2020 came up before the High Court for the first time on August 12, 2026, after the Board Department was directed to list old shelf matters.

The matter has been posted for September 9, 2026.

For Applicant: Senior Advocate Amit Desai and Advocate Rashmin Jain

For Respondents: Advocates Rajeshree V Newton, APP, and Sunkata A Karmkar, APP

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Case Title :  Vijay Vittal Mallya v. State Bank of India and OrsCase Number :  Criminal Application No. 148 of 2020CITATION :  2026 LLBiz HC(BOM) 457
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