The Bombay High Court on Tuesday orally reprimanded fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya for uploading an Enforcement Directorate (ED) affidavit onto X, noting that such postings undermine the efficacy of the court. [Vijay Vittal Mallya v. State Bank of India & Ors]

Justice Milind Jadhav cautioned Mallya’s legal team that fighting legal battles on social media harms their own case.

"Please make your client understand, this is not the way to do it. What happens is, it undermines the efficacy of the court then,” the judge remarked during the hearing. 

The objection was raised by ED counsel, who informed the Bench that after emailing the affidavit to Mallya’s legal team at 4:30 PM, Mallya uploaded the entire document on X by 11 PM that same night accompanied by derogatory remarks.

“This is not fair to Your Lordship's court...Your Lordship has not even had the chance to see it. The applicant should fight it out in court, not on Twitter,” the ED counsel submitted.

The judge also added, “The problem is, he's spoiling his own case. If he's doing like this. You have very competent lawyers in the court, argue the matter."

Appearing for Mallya, Senior Advocate Amit Desai assured the Court that they would convey the message to their client. He also pointed out how the ED also routinely posted about Mallya.

The core dispute centers on Mallya’s application regarding asset recoveries by central agencies. In its affidavit, ED revealed that it handed over approximately ₹14,131 crore to the State Bank of India (SBI)-led consortium through the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT).

Desai argued that this recovery far exceeds the original decreed debt of roughly ₹6,600 crore plus interest.

Justice Jadhav directed the SBI consortium to file a fresh affidavit addressing the ED's disclosures, after which Mallya was permitted to file a comprehensive amendment application.

The matter has been listed for further hearing on October 13.