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Bloomberg
Vijay Mallya is becoming something of a fixture in London courts.
As the tycoon fights his extradition back to India on fraud charges, another set of lawyers is trying to overturn a $1.5 billion worldwide freezing order against him across town. In the meantime, Mallya has to get by on 5,000 pounds a week, according to court documents.
A London judge upheld the injunction, served on Mallya on Sunday, but granted a short extension to respond to the order because of the parallel proceedings over his extradition. The businessman is accused by more than a dozen Indian banks, including IDBI Bank Ltd., of willfully defaulting on about $1.4 billion in debt for his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.
Mallya was arrested in London in April at the request of Indian authorities. The 61-year-old is currently in the middle of a two-week extradition hearing in a bid to avoid being sent back to his home country to face fraud and money laundering charges.
A judgment on Mallya’s extradition could take several weeks. He is accused by Indian prosecutors of dishonestly providing worthless collateral for the bank loans and using the proceeds to prop up his Force India Formula One team.