Vijay Mallya (File Photo)MUMBAI: At a hearing of his plea, Bombay high court orally remarked that it was time for a long-running controversy over recovery from Vijay Mallya founder of the erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines.Justice Milind Jadhav said the matter “be brought to an end” after senior counsel Amit Desai for Mallya submitted that a petition against seizures of his assets was turning infructuous over steps taken by the prosecution agency in the last six years.“Actually, this issue needs to be put to an end. The idea is to move on… otherwise the relations and the economy of the country suffer,” Justice Jadhav remarked and sought a reply from the ED to clarify if an earlier contemplated settlement process has concluded. Has everything been “done and dusted,” , the HC asked but made it clear that this plea would have no bearing on the criminal prosecution under the Fugitive Economic Offender (FEO) Act against Mallya.The criminal case be “taken to its logical end,” the HC single Judge bench said.Mallya had left India for the UK in 2016 where he remains. His counsel said he is barred from leaving the UK due to court orders there and hence cannot come to India at will.The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had confiscated Mallya’s assets in an alleged Rs 9,000 crore.In 2020, Mallya, filed the petition and challenged a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) trial court order that permitted SBI Bank headed consortium to use such ED-confiscated assets to recover unpaid dues. It was filed when settlement talks were afoot, said Desai but by 2026 most of the properties he wanted protection for have been attached by the ED, rendering the challenge redundant.In February, HC had asked Mallya to inform the court when he intends to return to India.Then Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad had orally said Mallya cannot avoid court processes by taking advantage of the pendency of his petition, in which he challenged the constitutionality of provisions of the Fugitive Economic Offender (FEO) Act.Mallya also had separately challenged a 2019 order of a special trial court on his FEO tag.