The Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in Karnataka on Thursday said it has put up Vijay Mallya’s shares in United Racing and Bloodstock Breeders (URBBL) for sale. Mallya holds 41,52,272 shares in URBBL, more popularly known as Kunigal stud farm. Kunigal is roughly 72 kilometres away from Bengaluru in Karnataka’s Tumakuru district.  

Vijay Mallya had formed URBBL in 1988 as a subsidiary of UB Group. He began buying and importing horses to compete in high-profile races. The 250-year-old Kunigal stud farm was leased to him by the state government for 30 years in 1992. These shares will be put up for an e-auction on October 30, 2018, the DRT said.

Until the DRT ruling, any sale or transfer of these shares, by the company, would have been at the risk of the buyer as the Income Tax department had attached these shares as Mallya owed the department a lump sum amount.

 The Income Tax department had issued a public notice stating that the former has already filed a chargesheet against the shares sold on account of outstanding demand, making the sale and transfer of these shares void under the Section 281 of the Income Tax Act. Therefore, under section 281 of the Income Tax Act, anyone who would have purchased these shares will have held no rights over them.

 Prior to DRT’s announcement, Commercial Court, Queen’s Bench division in London, had okayed the selling of six of his high-end cars, including a Range Rover, two Ferraris, a Porsche Cayenne, a Mini Countryman and a Maybach 62 for Rs 3.88 crore based on a previous DRT ruling.  

Fugitive and former liquor baron Vijay Mallya owes close to Rs 10,000 crore, including interest, to a consortium of 13 Indian banks. He is currently residing in London and fighting an extradition request at a London court. There are multiple bailable and non-bailable warrants issued against him in various courts of India following complaints by numerous government agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).