File photo

LONDON: Vijay Mallya , who is fighting legal battles in India and UK, faces another setback after the London high court ordered him to pay a further £1,75,000 (Rs 1.5 crore) towards the legal fees of a consortium of Indian banks after losing his high court case against them.

Mallya, who now owes approximately Rs 10,000 crore to 13 Indian banks, has already paid £200,000 (Rs 1.8 crore) in legal costs, the high court consent order, seen by TOI, states, meaning he will have to fork out £375,000 (Rs 3.3 crore) in total in legal costs for the banks in this case. He was ordered to pay £2,00,000 in legal costs the date the judgment was handed down, which was only a proportion of the banks’ legal fees in fighting their case.

Now he has reached a settlement with the banks, the latest document, dated August 13, by Judge Waksman QC, states. It reads: “Upon the first defendant (Dr Vijay Mallya) having made a payment of £2,00,000 to the claimants on account of their costs pursuant to the costs order,... it is by consent ordered that the first defendant shall within 60 days of ...this order pay a further sum of £175,000 in full and final settlement of the claimants’ costs pursuant to the costs order.”

Mallya had sought permission to appeal the May 8 London HC judgment in which Andrew Henshaw QC had dismissed his application to set aside the registration of the Bengaluru Debt Recovery Tribunal judgment in the English courts which stated that he owed a consortium of 13 Indian banks Rs 6,203 crore as of January 19, 2017 (Rs 9,990 crore now).

