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Kingfisher Employee Salary: There is great news for the employees of Vijay Mallya’s closed airline Kingfisher. The Enforcement Directorate has approved the payment of Rs 311 crore to pay the outstanding salaries of these employees.
New Delhi. The salary crisis of hundreds of employees of Kingfisher Airlines, which was closed several years ago, is about to end. The Enforcement Directorate, the agency investigating the case, has agreed to pay salaries to these employees and has also released money for this. This airline was closed on October 20, 2012, after which the employees of the airline were waiting for their outstanding salaries.
In fact, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has ensured the restoration of an amount of Rs 311.67 crore as long pending dues of the employees of M/s Kingfisher Airlines Limited (KAL). The move reiterates ED’s commitment towards victim-centric recovery of proceeds of crime under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). This restoration has been possible in compliance with the order passed by the Recovery Officer of Debt Recovery Tribunal-I (DRT-I), Chennai on 12.12.2025.
What is the order of the recovery officer?
In this order, directions were given to release the funds received from the sale of attached shares, which were earlier restored by the ED under PMLA, to the State Bank of India (SBI). This amount is to be transferred to the Official Liquidator for distribution to the former employees of Kingfisher Airlines.
The company had misused the loan
The ED had initiated the investigation by filing multiple ECIRs on the basis of bank fraud and criminal conspiracy cases (which are scheduled offenses under PMLA) registered by the CBI against Kingfisher Airlines Limited, Vijay Mallya and their associated entities. Investigation revealed that a major part of the loan taken by Kingfisher Airlines Limited was used to repay old loans from other banks and lenders, settle documentary bills discounted by Bank of Baroda and remit huge sums of money abroad in the name of aircraft lease rental and purchase of aircraft parts.
ED had seized property worth crores
During the investigation, ED provisionally attached properties worth Rs 5,042 crore of Vijay Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines Limited and related entities under Section 5(1) of PMLA. Apart from this, properties worth Rs 1,694.52 crore have also been attached under Section 83 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Based on the investigation, ED had registered a case against Vijay Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines Limited and related entities under PMLA, 2002.
