HDFC Bank says not party to United Spirits case in PMLA court

HDFC Bank Friday said it is not a party to the proceedings in the PMLA court regarding liquidation of shares of United Spirits to recover dues owned by Vijay Mallya companies.

PTI had erroneously reported on Thursday that HDFC Bank had moved the special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court here against SBI-led bankers' consortium attempting to recover dues by liquidating shares of United Spirits Ltd (USL).

Such an application was filed by HDFC Ltd, which a separate entity.

"We would like to state that our name has been mentioned erroneously as we are not a party to the proceedings in the PMLA Court," HDFC Bank said in an e-mailed statement.

The SBI-led bankers consortium had raised Rs 1,008 crore by selling 7.4 million pledged shares of United Breweries on Wednesday and wanted to recover more by liquidating shares of USL.

Banks are seeking court permission to liquidate 65.85 lakh shares of United Spirits which were pledged by two Vijay Mallya companies -- United Breweries Holdings (UBHL) and Kingfisher Finvest, the holding company of the defunct Kingfisher Airlines -- as collateral for loans from HDFC.

The banks are trying to part-recover the Rs 6,203.35 crore of dues along with annualised interest of 11.5 per cent payable since 2013, by liquidating the confiscated assets of Mallya, who is awaiting an extradition case at the London High Court now.

HDFC contends that the exclusive charge over 65.85 lakh shares is with it and the pledge was not in favour of the SBI-led consortium.