London, Oct 13 (PTI) Vijay Mallya, wanted in India to face trial on fraud and money laundering charges, has discontinued an application to annul a UK bankruptcy order ahead of a planned hearing in London on Monday.

It means the "Trustee in Bankruptcy" can continue to pursue assets to help a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) realise the repayment of an estimated judgment debt of around 1.05 billion pounds owed by the 69-year-old's now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

A High Court hearing to set the directions for the annulment application to be heard was vacated after Mallya's legal team filed a notice of discontinuance last week.

“Vijay Mallya's Trustee in Bankruptcy will be able to continue with their work in investigating and realising assets falling within his bankruptcy estate without any hindrance that this application might have caused them,” UK law firm TLT LLP, representing the banks, said in a statement.

It follows High Court Judge Anthony Mann's ruling in favour of the banks back in April to uphold the bankruptcy order dating back over four years.

“The bottom line in relation to this is that the bankruptcy order stands,” Justice Mann had concluded.

Mallya, meanwhile, was pursuing a separate annulment application through his lawyers Zaiwalla & Co. against the 2021 bankruptcy order on the basis that the banks’ debt had already been recovered in India. It is believed to have been discontinued as an Indian writ petition, compelling banks to provide information as to the recoveries made by them, has not progressed.  Proceedings in India are seen highly material to the adjudication of any annulment application before the English courts and indications are a fresh bankruptcy annulment application could be made at a later date.  The case dates back to 2017, when the banks registered the Indian Debt Recovery Tribunal's (DRT) judgment in the English courts, which pertained to a personal guarantee Mallya had provided in relation to loans made to Kingfisher Airlines. The banks then served Mallya with a bankruptcy petition in September 2018, which he opposed on multiple grounds.

The hearings in the case of SBI and Others date back to May 2018, when the banks were granted a worldwide freezing order based on the DRT judgment. Since then, there have been a series of hearings in this case, which led to a bankruptcy order against Mallya on July 26, 2021.  Separately, in relation to India's extradition request, Mallya remains on bail in the UK while a “confidential” legal matter believed to be related to an asylum application is resolved. PTI AK ZH ZH

Bankruptcy annulment discontinued, enabling trustee to realise assets under the standing bankruptcy order while India proceedings remain material. Discontinuance of the annulment application enables the Trustee in Bankruptcy to proceed with investigating and realising assets within the bankruptcy estate, leaving the existing bankruptcy order intact. The banks had registered an Indian DRT judgment and obtained interim reliefs including a worldwide freezing order prior to the bankruptcy order; Indian recovery proceedings are material to any future annulment application.