Vijay Mallya's luxury plane to be revalued

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court today asked the Service Tax Department, which has to recover dues of Rs 532 crore from the business tycoon Vijay Mallya, to revalue his luxury plane parked at the Mumbai airport.

After the revaluation, the HC said it would consider the department's request to allow a re-auction of the aircraft. A division bench headed by Justice S C Dharmadhikari asked the department to revalue the base price of the aircraft and submit a report in a sealed cover by January 19.

"Only after such a report is submitted, the court would consider the department's request to hold re-auction as earlier auctions have failed to get a proper bid," said Justice Dharmadhikari.

The highest bids received in the earlier three auctions were below the reserve price of Rs 152 crore. According to the department's petition before the high court, Mallya owes it Rs 32.68 crore as the service tax on the tickets of his Kingfisher Airlines sold between April 2011 and September 2012. In total, Mallya owes about Rs 532 crore in tax to the department, the petition said.

Service Tax Department has attached Mallya's private jet, an Airbus 319 which can carry 25 passengers and six crew members. Mallya, who left the country earlier this year, is also facing action after defaulting on over Rs 9,000 crore of loans from 17 banks. Courts have declared him 'proclaimed offender' for not appearing before them.

In May this year, the department had issued a notice advertising auction of the plane, describing it as designed "exclusively for exotic and luxurious use".