The Bombay High Court, while hearing on Wednesday (August 12, 2026), a 2020 application filed by Vijay Mallya, orally observed that the commercial dispute between him and a consortium of banks should be concluded. The court issued a notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to provide an update on the case and asset attachments.

The application challenges a special Mumbai court order that permitted a consortium of banks, led by the State Bank of India (SBI), to utilise certain assets belonging to the businessman. These assets were previously seized by the ED.

The matter was listed before single-judge Justice Milind Jadhav, who directed the ED’s Deputy Director to furnish the present status of the investigations against Mr. Mallya and the details of the attachments made to date.

During the hearing, advocate Amit Desai, representing Mr. Mallya, told the court that the application was filed in 2020 when the assets attached by the ED were valued at around ₹15,000 crore . Referred to a statement made by the Finance Minister in Parliament, Mr. Desai submitted that no statement is being made regarding what has been seized and what remains pending, even though the data is in the public domain. He added that all civil liabilities are over and that it is unfortunate that public sector banks are keeping the matter pending.

Citing an RBI audit, which Mr. Desai said concludes that the dispute is a complete airlines business failure.

Justice Jadhav responded that the Indian government must file an affidavit stating that everything is concluded, as a closure is required for such commercial litigation. The Bench issued notice to the ED, recording that substantial developments have taken place since the application was filed. The court stated it will decide the further course of action after hearing the ED Deputy Director.

Justice Jadhav expressed that in his opinion, the commercial dispute between the banks and Mr. Mallya must be brought to an end, noting that a decade has passed. He observed that relations between countries were getting affected and that the idea is to move on.

The matter was placed for further hearing after four weeks.

Published - August 14, 2026 10:23 am IST