London: A London court has ordered to sell a fleet of Vijay Mallya’s cars in the UK in order to recover loan repayment dues worth Rs 10,000 crore he owes to a consortium of 13 Indian banks.

The cars to be sold include four with personalised number plates  using his initials VJM, one being a Porsche with the James Bond-esque number plate ‘OO07 VJM’. 

In an order dated October 11, Justice Sara Cockerill said high court enforcement officers can sell his cars -- 2016 Mini Countryman, his 2012 Maybach 62 registration number ‘VJM1’, his 2006 Ferrari F430 with registration ‘BO55 VJM’, his 2014 Range Rover registration ‘F1 VJM’, a Ferrari F512M and a Porsche Cayenne with the number plate OO07 VJM, evoking James Bond.

“We can confirm that the High Court Enforcement Officer has acted on the banks’ instructions in seizing and selling these cars. The cars are expected to be sold shortly,” said Paul Gair, partner at law firm TLT, who is leading the case on behalf of the Indian banks.

TLT LLP, the law firm which had won a landmark case in May when a U.K. High Court judge ruled in favour of the Indian banks and concluded they were entitled to recover funds from the 62-year-old former Kingfisher Airline boss.

"This is one part of the banks' ongoing enforcement of their judgment against Dr. Mallya," he said.

The latest enforcement order follows a previous order by Justice Bryan on June 26, granting permission to the UK High Court Enforcement Officer to enter Mallya's properties in Hertfordshire, near London. It permits the officer and his agents entry to Ladywalk and Bramble Lodge in Tewin, Welwyn, where Mallya is currently based.

However, the order is not an instruction to enter, which means the banks have the option to use the order as one of the means to recover estimated funds owed to them in relation to money lent to Mallya's now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

The litigation in the Queen's Bench Division of the commercial court in England's High Court of Justice involves the State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Corporation bank, Federal Bank Ltd, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Mysore, UCO Bank, United Bank of India and JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Co. Pvt Ltd. as the applicants.

Mallya and related concerns Ladywalk LLP, Rose Capital Ventures Ltd. and Orange India Holdings are listed as respondents.

TLT had acted for the Indian banks in successfully defeating two applications earlier this year first, an application to set aside the first recorded case of a judgment of the Debt Recovery Tribunal in India being registered by the English High Court, and the second, to discharge an associated worldwide freezing order.

The worldwide freezing order prevents Mallya from removing any assets from England and Wales up to that value or to in any way dispose of, deal with or diminish the value of his assets in or outside of this jurisdiction, up to the same value.

Mallya, separately fighting his extradition to India on fraud and money laundering charges amounting to nearly Rs 10,000 crore, is set to find out if he can be forced back to face Indian courts on December 10, when Westminster Magistrates' Court in London is set to rule in his extradition case.

His defence team has deposed a series of expert witnesses to claim he had no "fraudulent" intentions and that he is unlikely to get a fair trial in India.

Earlier, Mallya’s cars in India were also auctioned in a similar manner. As many as 30 cars in India were sold after seizing them from Mallya’s property. Cars including a Ferrari, Rolls Royce Royce, and Maserati were sold in India.

(With agency inputs)