UK court awards BOC Aviation USD 90mn against Vijay Mallya

Vijay MallyaEmbattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya has lost another legal battle linked to his now defunct Kingfisher Airlines after the UK High Court awarded Singaporebased BOC Aviation an estimated USD 90 million in claims The latest case involving the 62yearold businessman whose extradition case over alleged loan defaults amounting to around Rs 9000 crores returns to Westminster Magistrates Court in London on March 16 is related to the leasing of aircraft by Kingfisher Airlines dating back to 2014Justice Picken in a judgment dated February 5 at the Business and Property Courts of the High Court in London ruled that the defendants have no real prospect of successfully defending the claim The defendants in the claim brought by BOC Aviation in Singapore and BOC Aviation Ireland Ltd have been named as Kingfisher Airlines Ltd and United Breweries Holdings Ltd We are pleased with the judgment but would not like to comment further at this stage said a spokesperson for BOC Aviation in Singapore The legal claim relates to a leasing agreement between Kingfisher Airlines and aircraft leasing company BOC Aviation involving four planes of which three were deliveredThe delivery of the fourth was reportedly withheld due to unpaid amounts due in advance under the lease arrangement BOC Aviation claims that the security deposit which is a course of redress in such matters was also inadequate to cover the payments that Kingfisher was contractually bound to make resulting in the High Court claim in London In his order Justice Picken awarded BOC Aviation the amount overdue along with interest payments and legal costs which overall amounts to nearly USD 90 million The Second Defendant United Breweries shall be jointly and severally liable with the First Defendant Kingfisher Airlines to pay the Claimants BOC Aviation half of the said costs liability the court order notes There was no immediate response from KingfisherThe latest ruling comes weeks before Indias extradition case against Mallya is set to come up for one of its final hearings before Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot on March 16 with a judgment expected in May The businessman remains on a 650000pound bail bond extended until April 2 at the last hearing in the extradition case in January Mallya had been arrested on an extradition warrant by Scotland Yard in April last year and has since been appearing for his extradition trial which opened on December 4 last year to establish if he can be forced to return to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering involving Kingfisher Airlines default of bank loans worth nearly Rs 9000 croresThe Crown Prosecution Service CPS representing the Indian government has claimed that the evidence they have presented confirms dishonesty on the part of the businessman who acquired the loans through misrepresentation and had no intention of repaying them Mallyas defence team has deposed a series of expert witnesses to try and establish that the default by Kingfisher Airlines was the result of business failure within a wider context of a global financial crisis and that its owner had no fraudulent intentions When the trial returns next month the judge will hear concluding arguments on the admissibility of some of the evidence presented by the CPS on behalf of the Indian authoritiesMeanwhile Mallya faces parallel litigation around an estimated 15billiondollar worldwide freeze order on his assets According to court documents submitted at the UK High Court last year the claim brought by 13 Indian banks is expected to come up for a twoday hearing in the Queens Bench Division of the commercial court in Englands High Court of Justice some time after April 11Catch up on all the latest Mumbai National and International news hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the goThe contentreporting displayed on our website wwwmiddaycom is provided ASIS AS AVAILABLE by us from third party agencies sources without any verification from our side It may contain error bugs and other limitations The readers can rely on the content at their own will Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability data text images video messages or any other material whatsoever or for any claimslossaction that the reader may suffer as a result of relying on the content on our site Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever