Lenders approach DRT to recover Kingfisher Airlines' loans

The cat and mouse game between Kingfisher Airline’s Vijay Mallaya and the lenders to the airlines continues. CNBC-TV18 has learnt from sources that the consortium of banks to which KFA owes over Rs.7000 crore have approached the Debt Recovery Tribunal or DRT once again in an attempt to recover some of their dues.

Given that Mallya has challenged the banks at every step, these 17 lenders have barely been able to recover 10 percent of their total dues so far. The biggest problem, according to sources in these banks, has been identifying his assets to even lay claim on.

Therefore, the banks have now approached the DRT, asking them to compel Vijay Mallya to declare all his assets, which are mainly his real estate holdings.

Banks say Mallya has been playing truant for too long and not been co-operating with them, so now, they will use what is called the “bankers general lien” to attach his assets once he declares them. General lien essentially gives bank the automatic claim to a defaulting borrower’s assets that come in their possession in normal course of business.