UK is kicking Vijay Mallya out of his luxury London home. This is why

Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya has been in a big legal battle with the Swiss Bank UBS since 2019. Mallya had taken a mortgage with one of his companies called Rose Capital Ventures, from UBS Bank, and had failed to repay the loan. Now while that might be classic Mallya, the UBS Bank isn't ready to have any of him. The bank was due for possession in 2020 itself but because of Covid restrictions, it was unable to possess the property.

In 2022, however, the court has rightfully allowed UBS to take over the mortgaged property. Thus, Mallya stands evicted from his luxury home, where he is known to stay with his 95-year-old mom Lalitha and son Sidartha Mallya. 

The British court refused to grant him a stay of enforcement in this order and prohibited him and his team to appeal against this decision to any other authorities. 

IT'S TIME TO LEAVE

Mallya’s property in question is the 18/19 Cornwall Terrace luxury apartment, which overlooks Regent’s Park in London. It was described in court as an “extraordinarily valuable property worth many tens of millions of pounds”.

The family is said to have lived in this luxury apartment and it is also related to businesses.  

THE SAME OLD CASE, BUT IN A NEW COUNTRY

The case between UBS Bank and Mallya is basically about a mortgage which was taken together by Mallya and one of his companies called Rose Capital Ventures. Rose Capital Ventures is registered in British Virgin Islands, and is owned by Mallya's family trust called Sileta Trust. This company owns Mallya's London home. This was a security for the loan taken in 2012, which was due for repayment in 2017. 

Vijay Mallya's mother Lalitha and son Sidartha were listed as co-defendants with right of occupancy of the property. 

In May 2019, Judge Simon Barker had given a consent order which allowed the family to retain the possession of the property and repay the loan of Rs 185 Crore by April 30, 2020; a deadline the family failed to meet. As the loans were not repaid, the bank had the right to possess the property. But because of special Covid-19 rules during the pandemic, UBS was legally unable to enforce the possession until April 2021.

When UBS sought a court order for enforcement in October 2021, Mallya filed a stay application because the bank had placed “unreasonable obstacles” in his path to repay the sums through family trust funds. His legal team also produced a non-binding letter, claiming a company was willing to acquire the property, which would help them pay off the loan. 

The judge dismissed the letter as it was of “limited assistance” and expressed real doubts if the offer was bonafide.

WHAT IS THE COURT'S ORDER?

The UK court has now ordered Vijay Mallya and his entire family to be evicted from his London home, and has given UBS the right to repossess and sell the businessman's luxury home in London. 

More importantly, the judge, Deputy Master Matthew Marsh, has rejected permission to appeal against his order or to grant a temporary stay of enforcement. The verdict means that UBS can possess the home to realise its debt of GBP 20.4 million (i.e. Rs 200 crore). 

The judge said that there were no grounds for him to grant further time for the Mallya family to repay the GBP 20.4 million loan to UBS. He also mentioned that he did not find any basis regarding Mallya's perspective when Mallya had told the court that the bank had misled them. 

The judge also declined permission to appeal against his order or to grant a temporary stay of enforcement, which means UBS can proceed with the possession process to realise its unpaid dues.

VIJAY MALLYA'S OTHER COURT AFFAIRS

Vijay Mallya has been living in London since fleeing to the UK after being accused of a Rs 9,000 crore fraud of Kingfisher Airlines. He was ordered to be extradited by the UK High Court after hearings that lasted three years. Currently, he is on bail as the UK government considers a confidential hearing about to his application seeking asylum in Britain.