TIL Desk/Business/London/ Embattled Indian businessman Vijay Mallya, having to douse multiple fires in Britain – where he is resisting extradition to India and a freezing of his assets – and in Indian courts, underlined Indian authorities’ alleged “mala fide actions” were “a clear example of politically motivated abuse of power, with no legal basis whatsoever”.
Mallya asked: “Does the Indian government want me to repay the public sector banks or not?” His offer to them was, if you want your money back, take the principal in full, which he maintained was around Rs 5000 crore. He asserted “the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) charges have no merit whatsoever”.
And: “Recovery of loans is a civil matter, which has been criminalised in my case. “However, in his application to the Karnataka high court on June 22, he listed available assets which, according to him, amounted to “approximately Rs 13900 crore”, and sought the court’s permission to sell these under judicial supervision and, thereby, repay the creditors.
Mallya, who enjoyed non-resident Indian status but is perceived to have effectively fled India in 2016, had his passport confiscated. A magistrate’s court was approached by the Indian government last year for his deportation to India to face arrest and charges.
