It harms your own case: Bombay High Court on Vijay Mallya sharing ED affidavit on X
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday reprimanded fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya for posting an Enforcement Directorate (ED) affidavit on X, cautioning that taking legal disputes to social media could undermine the efficacy of the court. Justice Milind Jadhav told Mallya’s legal team to advise their client against using social media to contest matters that were pending before the court.
"The problem is, he's spoiling his own case. Please make your client understand, this is not the way to do it. What happens is, it undermines the efficacy of the court then. If he's doing like this. You have very competent lawyers in court, argue the matter," the judge said in a sharp remark.
The issue came up during the hearing of Mallya’s plea seeking closure of proceedings on the ground that his civil liabilities had effectively been settled. His lawyers sought time to respond to the ED’s latest affidavit.
ED counsel Ashish Mehta, however, objected to the request and informed the court that the affidavit had been emailed to Mallya’s legal team at around 4.30 pm.
By 11 pm the same day, Mallya had uploaded the entire document on X, accompanied by what the ED described as derogatory remarks.
"This is not fair to Your Lordship's court... Your Lordship has not even had the chance to see it. The applicant should fight it out in court, not on Twitter," Mehta told the bench.
Senior advocate Amit Desai, appearing for Mallya, assured the court that the message would be conveyed to his client. Desai also pointed out that the ED itself routinely posted about Mallya on social media.
The broader dispute relates to Mallya’s claim that subsequent recovery of money by the consortium of banks should bring an end to the proceedings against him.
His plea states that the banks have recovered approximately Rs 15,000 crore, substantially exceeding the original claim of about Rs 6,203 crore, including interest.
The ED, in its response filed last month, opposed the contention that the recoveries made the proceedings redundant.
It maintained that Mallya’s continued absence from India and failure to submit to the criminal jurisdiction of the competent court remained relevant circumstances while considering the relief sought by him.
The ED affidavit also disclosed that around Rs 14,131 crore had been handed over to the State Bank of India-led consortium through the Debt Recovery Tribunal.
Mallya’s lawyers argued that this recovery exceeded the original decreed debt of roughly Rs 6,600 crore plus interest.
Justice Jadhav directed the SBI consortium to file a fresh affidavit dealing with the disclosures made by the ED. Mallya was thereafter permitted to file a comprehensive amendment application.
The matter has been adjourned to October 13, when the court is expected to take up the proceedings further.
The next hearing will consider the fresh material on recoveries and Mallya’s amended plea.- EndsPublished By: Vivek Published On: Sep 22, 2026 20:00 IST
