The British Columbia government wants the two men acquitted in the Air India case – Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri – to repay the costs of their defence during their recent trial.

Their trial cost Canadian taxpayers almost $60 million. And government estimates suggest Malik owes the government $6.4 million and Bagri owes $9.7 million in legal fees.

Two years ago, the two men signed repayment agreements with the government – details of which have been kept secret.

Documents obtained by CBC show the province has a $180,000 mortgage on what appears to be Bagri's only asset – his Kamloops home valued at just less than $400,000.

Malik is much wealthier, with assets that include a Vancouver clothing business worth $4 million per year that sits on a $3-million piece of real estate, an 88-room hotel worth another $3 million and a Shaughnessy home recently assessed at $1.3 million.

There is also, according to a court judgment from 2003, a townhouse up for sale, 57 condos, property in India and at least three luxury vehicles.

The agreement to repay legal fees gives the government a 50 per cent security interest in several of Malik's properties.

But the government may have trouble collecting. Malik's lawyer, Kevin Woodall, says there are numerous legal arguments against the enforceability of the contract, saying it was signed under duress.

There is also a long list of Malik's creditors who were in line long before the government made a claim on his assets.

The government says letters demanding the money from Malik and Bagri will go out almost immediately.

If there's no positive response within a reasonable time, the two men at the centre of Canada's most expensive criminal trial could be back in court – this time fighting a civil case.