Vijay Mallya (archive photo)
MUMBAI: Vijay Mallya, founder of defunct Kingfisher Airlines, is “unable to give an exact date for his return to India,” his lawyers said in a statement before the Bombay HC.He has the right to challenge the validity of the provisions of the Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEO) Act without being in India, and following orders passed by the courts in England, “is not permitted to leave or attempt to leave England and Wales, or to apply for or possess any international travel document,” the statement added.Senior Advocate Amit Desai presented Mallya with the statement submitted by his counsel, Kanga & Co., before Chief Justice Shri Chandrashekar and Justice Gautam Ankhad. The bench noted that the memorandum was not a signed statement.However, in a new affidavit on Tuesday, the Union Home Ministry said that Mallya’s affidavit dated February 10 is not consistent with the HC’s December order asking when he will return to India.
He made bona fide settlement offers, says the affidavit, which was confirmed in London, and the Union Finance Ministry’s disclosure in Lok Sabha in December of Rs 15,006 crore recovered by banks against Kingfisher Airlines loans led to the recovery of over Rs 6,200 crore of debts recorded by the Debt Recovery Tribunal in 2017.The February 18 statement said, citing a November 2025 Supreme Court order allowing those declared FEOs and fugitives to be represented by lawyers in India while they are physically present outside the country.
Mallya’s lawyers also said that the petitions he filed – one challenging the special court’s order called FEO and the other challenging the FEO provisions – should be heard separately.The Centre, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Assistant Secretary General Anil Singh, accompanied by ED counsel Prashant Mishra, said Mallya had been on the run since March 2, 2016. The special court had declared him an “fugitive criminal” in January 2019, following which extradition proceedings were initiated and are at an advanced stage in the UK.Mehta said that once Mallya is extradited or chooses to return, he will be dealt with strictly under the Indian laws and constitution.The SC, which was at one time inclined to reject Mallya’s petition, did not do so after Desai convinced it not to do so, claiming that Mallya’s assets had been seized, and even in England, he was not allowed to leave the country or carry a passport.The HC then directed Mallya to file a fresh affidavit reiterating the written statement, as well as a comprehensive exposition of such orders passed by the courts in England. The ED has to file its affidavit in response thereafter. The HC has posted the order till March 11. He also verbally indicated that Mallya had not taken any steps since submitting his petition in 2019 to be heard.
