Fresh trouble brews for Mallya; CBI registers cheating case

August 13, 2016

New Delhi, Aug 13: CBI has registered a fresh case against beleaguered liquor baron Vijay Mallya for allegedly cheating a consortium of nationalised banks to the tune of Rs 6,027 crore by not keeping commitments to repay loans taken for his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

CBI spokesperson R K Gaur said a fresh case has been registered under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and cheating on the basis of a complaint received from State Bank of India on behalf of the consortium of banks for causing loss of Rs 6,027 crore to them by not keeping repayment commitments of his loan taken during 2005-10.

Agency sources said that besides Mallya, his companies Kingfisher Airlines and United Breweries Holdings Limited have been named as accused in the FIR.

No reaction was available from the company despite request. The agency had earlier filed a case of alleged loan default by the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines to IDBI Bank.

It is alleged that State Bank of India and its consortium banks had advanced various credit facilities to Kingfisher Airlines Limited during the period between 2005 and 2010, they said.

During 2009-10, the company failed to meet its repayment commitments to the bank from whom it had availed the credit facilities and Kingfisher Airlines did not keep its account with the consortium banks regular which became NPA, the FIR states.

The consortium banks, therefore, recalled the credit facilities and also invoked corporate guarantee of UBHL and personal guarantee of Mallya, it alleged.

Mallya deliberately did not repay the amount, outstanding dues payable by Kingfisher Airlines to consortium of banks. It is alleged that there was a conspiracy among group companies promoter and unknown others to cheat the lenders, the sources said.

SBI has an exposure of Rs 1,600 crore to the airline. Out of this, the bankers, which recalled the loan in February 2013, could recover only around Rs 1,100 crore after selling pledged shares of UB Group companies.

Other banks that have exposure to the airline include Punjab National Bank and IDBI Bank (Rs 800 crore each), Bank of India (Rs 650 crore), Bank of Baroda (Rs 550 crore), Central Bank of India (Rs 410 crore).

UCO Bank has to recover Rs 320 crore, Corporation Bank (Rs 310 crore), State Bank of Mysore (Rs 150 crore), Indian Overseas Bank (Rs 140 crore), Federal Bank (Rs 90 crore), Punjab and Sind Bank (Rs 60 crore) and Axis Bank (Rs 50 crore).

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‘Pay the worker before his sweat dries’: Madras High Court cites Prophet Muhammad’s teaching while ordering settlement of dues

News Network

December 21,2025

Invoking the teachings of Prophet Muhammad—“pay the worker before his sweat dries”—the Madras High Court has directed a municipal corporation to settle long-pending legal dues owed to a former counsel. The court observed that this principle reflects basic fairness and applies equally to labour and service-related disputes.

Justice G. R. Swaminathan made the observation while hearing a petition filed by advocate P. Thirumalai, who claimed that the Madurai City Municipal Corporation failed to pay him legal fees amounting to ₹13.05 lakh. Earlier, the High Court had asked the corporation to consider his representation. However, a later order rejected a major portion of his claim, prompting the present petition.

The court allowed Thirumalai to approach the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) and submit a list of cases in which he had appeared. It also directed the corporation to settle the verified fee bills within two months, without interest. The court noted that the petitioner had waited nearly 18 years before challenging the non-payment and that the corporation could not be fully blamed, as the fee bills were not submitted properly.

‘A Matter of Embarrassment’

Justice Swaminathan described it as a “matter of embarrassment” that the State has nearly a dozen Additional Advocate Generals. He observed that appointing too many law officers often leads to unnecessary allocation of work and frequent adjournments, as government counsel claim that senior officers are engaged elsewhere.

He expressed hope that such practices would end at least in the Madurai Bench of the High Court and added that Additional Advocate Generals should “turn a new leaf” from 2026 onwards.

‘Scandalously High Amounts’

While stating that the court cannot examine the exact fees paid to senior counsel or law officers, Justice Swaminathan stressed that good governance requires public funds to be used prudently. He expressed concern over the “scandalously high amounts” paid by government and quasi-government bodies to a few favoured law officers.

In contrast, the court noted that Thirumalai’s total claim was “a pittance” considering the large number of cases he had handled.

Background

Thirumalai served as the standing counsel for the Madurai City Municipal Corporation for more than 14 years, from 1992 to 2006. During this period, he represented the corporation in about 818 cases before the Madurai District Courts.

As the former counsel was unable to hire a clerk to obtain certified copies of judgments in all 818 cases, the court directed the District Legal Services Authority to collect the certified copies within two months. The court further ordered the corporation to bear the cost incurred by the DLSA and deduct that amount from the final settlement payable to the petitioner.

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