Six cars belonging to Vijay Mallya are set to be sold imminently, lawyers acting on behalf of a consortium of Indian banks seeking the recovery of the businessman’s assets through the courts in London have said.

It follows an order from the Commercial Court, Queen’s Bench division in which Justice Cockerill last week enabled the high court enforcement officer to sell six cars, including a Range Rover, two Ferraris, a Porsche Cayenne, a Mini Countryman and a Maybach 62 for at least £404,000 plus tax.

“We can confirm that the High Court Enforcement Officer has acted on the banks’ instructions in seizing and selling these cars,” said Paul Gair, partner at the law firm TLT that has been handling the case. “The cars are expected to be sold shortly. This is one part of the banks’ ongoing enforcement of their judgment against Mallya.”

Pending decisions

In July Mallya lost his attempt to appeal the decision of the UK court in the lawsuit brought by the 13 banks led by the State Bank of India seeking to recover £1.45 billion.

The ruling allowed the registration of the Karnataka Debt Recovery Tribunal’s 2017 order against Mallya in the UK and the implementation of a Worldwide Freezing Order that prevented him from removing or diminishing his assets in England and Wales.

The banks’ claims are being pursued alongside the Indian government’s attempt to extradite Mallya — a judgment on which is expected in December.

In a separate case, Swiss bank UBS is seeking to foreclose on a £20.4-billion loan on the businessman’s central London house. The case that is expected to take place over 10 days is set to commence on May 7 next year.

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