New Delhi, July 2: Fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya finally found a buyer for his luxury jet on Friday after four failed attempts since March 2016. The Airbus A319-133C VT-VJM MSN 2650 was auctioned by the official liquidator attached to the Karnataka high court in Bengaluru.

On Friday, India’s service tax authorities have sold Mallya’s luxury jet for Rs 34.8 crore ($5.05 million) to Florida, US-based Aviation Management Sales. The move comes as a part of an attempt to recover money from the beleaguered businessman Mallya, who is facing extradition from London now.

Following a Karnataka High Court order, the transaction was completed through an e-auction last Friday. Reports inform that the jet has been parked at a hangar of the Mumbai airport since its confiscation in 2013. The deal will go through after the Bombay High Court approval.

For the unversed, the service tax authorities had put the luxury A319 jet under the hammer to recover their dues to the tune of Rs 800 crore accumulated on account of non-payment of service tax before his erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines went belly up in October 2012, a PTI report informs. The luxury A319 jet is the same jet which Mallya used to crisscross the world to solicit business deals.  Reports inform that department had initially fixed Rs 152 crore as the reserve price at the first auction attempt in March 2016.

The last bidding was conducted by MSTC in March 2017. Reports inform that this January, the Bombay High Court had directed the official liquidator of the Karnataka High Court to take required steps to take away the plane as it is been occupying space at the highly congested Mumbai airport all these while.

During its first auction in March 2016, a lone bidder turned up and quoted a meagre Rs 1.09 crore, against the reserve price of Rs 152 crore. The department rejected the bid and then lowered the reserve price by 10 per cent.  According to reports, the jet was attached by the service tax department in December 2013, claiming tax dues of over Rs 800 crore from Kingfisher Airlines.

To recall, the service tax department was forced to sell the aircraft after the Mumbai airport operator MIAL moved the Bombay High Court seeking a direction to the department citing heavy losses on account of the non-productive use of its space. The auction, in the past, had failed as the bids were much below the reserve price, which was cut to USD 12.5 million from USD 22.5 million initially.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 02, 2018 03:17 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).