On Tuesday night, the fugitive offender Vijay Mallya in a series of tweets made a request to the banks with regard to the settlement of his dues. He began his apology with a rant. Vijay Mallya alleged that he has been treated unfairly by the politicians and the media.
Politicians and Media are constantly talking loudly about my being a defaulter who has run away with PSU Bank money. All this is false. Why don’t I get fair treatment and the same loud noise about my comprehensive settlement offer before the Karnataka High Court. Sad.
— Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) December 5, 2018
His tweets have come after Indian authorities successfully secured extradition and brought back AgustaWestland scam middleman Christian Michel. He was brought to India from Dubai. It is the first successful extradition ever since India has ushered in similar proceedings against economic offenders like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Mehul Choksi. The News18 has quoted Finance Minister Arun Jaitley saying that the trio would soon follow Michel.
Extradition is the act by one nation’s jurisdiction of delivering a person who has been accused of committing a crime in another nation’s jurisdiction or has been convicted of a crime in that other jurisdiction, into the custody of a law enforcement agency of that nation where he committed the crime.
The swift extradition of Michel seems to have perturbed Mallya and it is very likely that he has seen this as some sort of premonition to his fate. In order to avoid fate and humiliation like Christian Michel, Vijay Mallya has again made a passionate appeal to banks to accept the offer of him paying 100% of the principal loan amount.
Airlines struggling financially partly becoz of high ATF prices. Kingfisher was a fab airline that faced the highest ever crude prices of $ 140/barrel. Losses mounted and that’s where Banks money went.I have offered to repay 100 % of the Principal amount to them. Please take it.
— Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) December 5, 2018
Vijay Mallya then mentioned the contributions made by his company to the state exchequer and again reiterated his offer to pay banks.
For three decades running India’s largest alcoholic beverage group, we contributed thousands of crores to the State exchequers. Kingfisher Airlines also contributed handsomely to the States. Sad loss of the finest Airline but still I offer to pay Banks so no loss. Please take it.
— Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) December 5, 2018
Vijay further said, “I see the quick media narrative about my extradition decision.” He threatened to take legal course against it, and again reiterated his earlier appeals to pay back 100% of the principal loan amount.
I see the quick media narrative about my extradition decision. That is separate and will take its own legal course. The most important point is public money and I am offering to pay 100% back. I humbly request the Banks and Government to take it. If payback refused, WHY ?
— Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) December 5, 2018
The Kingfisher Airlines run by Vijay Mallya ran into losses since its inception in 2002, and finally closed its operations in 2012. The defunct airline has a loan default case of around Rs 10,000 crores from a consortium of 17 banks. Most of the loans were from public sector banks, with State Bank of India being the largest loan provider. Vijay Mallya was a member of Rajya Sabha between the period of 2002-2008 and 2010-2016, and it is alleged that he used his political influence to get loans from public sector banks.
On his visit to the United Kingdom, PM Modi negotiated the extradition proceedings of Vijay Mallya with British Prime Minister Theresa May. Mallya is a British Citizen so bringing him to India is tricky and requires immense political resolve. The latest rant of Vijay Mallya on Twitter shows that he is very disturbed by Christian Michel’s extradition, and considering it as a premonition to his own fate. There should be no more snags in the path to Vijay Mallya’s extradition to India but if the PM Modi led government can pull it off, prior to the Lok Sabha 2019 elections it would be a big boost for them. The Congress government would be exposed as to how it had let Mallya’s company Kingfisher operate freely for all those years and PM Modi led BJP would get a public appraisal as well.
The ruling in Vijay Mallya’s extradition case is likely to be pronounced on December 10 by the Westminster Magistrate’s Court in London.