London, 22 February (HS): Businessman Vijay Mallya has filed a fresh appeal in a UK court to set aside his bankruptcy order. He argues that Indian banks have made unrealistic claims, especially when India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made a recent statement in Parliament on debt recovery.

Malia's lawyer, Leigh Krestohl, said that according to figures presented to Parliament, the banks had previously recovered more money than they owed on Malia. On this basis he has applied for cancellation of the bankruptcy order.

The case is pending at the High Court in London, where Judge Anthony Mann has reserved his judgment after a hearing. A group of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) is seeking recovery of nearly 1.05 billion GBP owed to 69-year-old Mallya by his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Mallya says the court should reconsider the bankruptcy order keeping in view the new evidence. His lawyers say that the public sector banks will automatically accept the Finance Minister's statement in Parliament.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar