Calcutta High Court dismisses Kingfisher Airlines appeal

KOLKATA: Adivision bench of the Calcutta High Court on Thursday upheld a singlejudge bench’s order that said Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya cannot rope in a lawyer to defend himself before United Bank of India, which is moving to declare him a willful defaulter.

But Mallya and Kingfisher’s board can be represented by the company’s law officers or company secretary for the hearing before the state-run bank. According to UBI, the airline owes it about Rs 350 crore. UBI executive director Deepak Narang said it was a landmark judgement for the entire banking industry in their fight against defaulters, but legal experts said KFA has other options, such as approaching the Supreme Court, to at least delay appearing before the bank.