Banks allowed to utilise Vijay Mallya's movable assets to clear debt
Mumbai: A special court here has permitted a consortium of 15 banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) to utilise movable assets of former liquor baron Vijay Mallya towards repayment of his debt.
The assets, comprising financial securities like shares of the United Breweries Holdings Ltd (UBHL), were attached by the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in 2016 when it declared Mallya a proclaimed offender.
Under provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code, a court orders attachment of a person's movable assets after he or she has been declared a proclaimed offender.
A person against whom a warrant has been issued can be declared a proclaimed offender if the court believes that he or she has absconded or is evading execution of warrant.
The consortium of banks earlier filed an application before the special court, seeking release of Mallya's movable assets to utilise them for repayment of loans given to him.
Senior counsel Rajeev Patil, appearing for the consortium, said the special court on Tuesday lifted the attachment on the movable assets.
The court has, however, stayed its order till January 18 to enable the parties concerned to approach the Bombay High Court in appeal. Senior counsel Amit Desai, appearing for Mallya, said the court has ordered lifting of attachment of assets, which are UBHL shares.
"However, we do not know if the court has ordered for the assets to be restored to SBI or the consortium. We are waiting for the order copy for further clarity," Desai said.
Mallya, who is accused of money laundering by the Enforcement Directorate, fled India in March 2016 and is now based in London. The lenders in their application said they want to liquidate assets to claim over Rs 6,000 crore.
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At least 4 people killed in one of largest Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia
Kyiv, May (AP): At least four people, including three near Moscow, died in one of the largest Ukrainian overnight attacks against Russia since the start of the war, according to Russian local authorities.
A woman was killed after a drone hit her home in Khimki, a city just northwest of Moscow, and two men died in the village of Pogorelki 10 km north of the capital, according to local Gov. Andrei Vorobyev.
In social media updates, Vorobyev said Ukrainian drones had also damaged unspecified “infrastructure” and several high-rises.
In Moscow itself, at least 12 people were wounded in the nighttime strike, mostly near the entrance to the city's oil refinery, mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported. Sobyanin reported the “technology” of the refinery has not been damaged.
Russian defences shot down 81 drones headed for Moscow overnight, state agency Tass reported, citing Sobyanin, marking one of the largest attacks on the Russian capital since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
One man was also killed as a drone struck a lorry in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, according to local authorities.
Russian air defences destroyed 556 drones over Russia overnight, the country's defence ministry said Sunday morning. Shortly after midday local time, it reported that over 1,000 had been shot down or jammed in the previous 24 hours.
Russia's largest airport — Moscow's Sheremetyevo — said drone debris had fallen on its premises without causing damage.
Russia attacked Ukraine with 287 drones overnight on Sunday, 279 of which were shot down or jammed, the Ukrainian air force reported.
According to Ukraine's estate emergency service, the strikes injured 8 people in Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region: three in the regional capital of Dnipro, four in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's hometown of Kryvyi Rih, and one in the district of Synelkove.
Residential buildings were damaged in all three locations, the service said.
