The fugitive businessman was a member of Rajya Sabha, India’s upper house of Parliament, when he escaped to London in 2016, with the Indian law enforcement authorities on his trail.
The banks, led by the State Bank of India, hope to confiscate Mallya’s high-value offshore assets to recover part of what they are owed. The assets are owned by a trust established in the name of the liquor baron’s father, but he has claimed he had no interest in those entities.
Mallya has been maintaining that the charges against him levied by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) India’s apex investigative agency, are “false” and he “wants to pay employees and other creditors”, and “move on in life”.
Despite the good Court result for me today, I once again repeat my offer to pay back the Banks that lent money to Kingfisher Airlines in full. Please take the money. With the balance, I also want to pay employees and other creditors and move on in life.
— Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) July 2, 2019
Earlier this month, the flamboyant businessman, whose interests ranged from aviation to liquor, told his detractors to ask the banks why they are not ready to take back the money he owes.
For all those who saw my photo with the universe boss and my dear friend @henrygayle and commented, please pause and get your facts right about my being your CHOR. Ask your Banks why they are not taking 100 percent of the money I have been offering.
— Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) July 13, 2019
India is seeking Mallya’s extradition from the UK to face a criminal trial in the country for failing to repay the bad debt that was issued to him and his defunct Kingfisher Airlines by state-funded banks. The loans are believed to have been obtained through falsely represented facts.
The UK ordered the extradition of Vijay Mallya to India in February, 2019, but he managed to obtain a reprieve from the courts and remains in London. His latest appeal in the UK High Court will now come up for hearing in February 2020.
