$75 mn from Diageo may remain a pipe dream for Mallya

SBI had moved the Debt Recovery Tribunal because Mallya owes over Rs 7,200 crore to a consortium of banks led by State Bank of India

An Indian tribunal has temporarily halted a $75 million settlement due to be paid by spirits giant Diageo Plc to liquor baron Vijay Mallya, after he resigned as chairman of Diageo unit United Spirits.

The court ruled in favour of a group of creditor banks, owed money by Mallya's now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, and who had argued they had the 'first right' to that money.

Kingfisher, which stopped flying more than three years ago, had $1.4 billion in debts as of September 2013, according to corporate filings from the time.

Mallya said in a statement on Sunday that he was in talks with banks for a one-time settlement of Kingfisher's debt, adding that he had no plans to run away from his creditors.