Vijay Mallya's Goa villa sealed, valued at Rs 90 crore

A legal agency appointed by the State Bank of India on 13 May took possession of former liqour baron Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher villa in Goa's Tony beach village.

Officials of the Delhi-based ARCK Consultants appointed by State Bank of India, one of the lenders to Malya's now defunct Kingfisher Airlines, sealed the villa - valued at Rs 90 crore - after drawing up an inventory of goods and articles inside the palatial premises, Hindustan Times reported.

"Auction will take some time. The property has been attached completely. All inventories have been done. No one can now have access to the villa without out permission. The SBI has taken control. We have proceeded as per court order," Anil Kohli of ARCK consultants told reporters outside Kingfisher Villa.

"That will take time. First there will be valuation of the premises. That will be the next step," Hindustan Times quoted Kohli as saying.

The villa used to be the venue for many of Mallya's celebrity embedded parties. Representing the bankers' consortium, SBI Caps had sought physical possession of the property under Section 14 of the Sarfaesi Act in late 2014.

USL (United Spirits Ltd), one of Mallya's companies had also approached a local court, citing provisions in the Portuguese Civil Code to block auction of the property in the past. There was a delay on part of the collector in allowing takeover of the property, which made SBI Cap approach the Goa bench of Bombay High Court. The bench then granted three months to the collector to complete the hearing of application filed by the consortium of banks seeking possession of the villa, reported Hindustan Times.

Of the total dues of over 9,430 crore Mallya told the Supreme Court that he was ready to repay upto Rs 6,800 crore. The Banks have recovered over Rs 1,240 crore by selling shares and collaterals and over Rs 1,200 crore is blocked in escrow accounts at Debt Recovery Tribunal, Bengaluru ad the Karnataka High Court.

Last month, the consortium of banks had failed in its attempt to sell the airlines' erstwhile headquarters Kingfisher House in Mumbai because of the high reserve price of Rs 150 crore. Attempts to sell the Kingfisher brands and associated trademarks carrying a reserve price of Rs 367 crore had also found no takers, reported Hindustan Times.

On 12 May, the Central Bureau of Investigation forwarded to Interpol its request for issuance of a Red Notice to facilitate the extradition proceedings against Mallya as initiated by the Enforcement Directorate.