Mallya offers to repay 100% ‘public money’

London, December 5

Fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Wednesday took to social media with an offer to pay back 100 per cent of “public money” to various Indian banks and urged the government to accept his offer, days ahead of a UK court’s decision on his plea not to extradite him to India.

The former Kingfisher Airlines boss, who has been on bail in the UK on an extradition warrant since his arrest in April last year, is fighting extradition to India on charges of fraud and money laundering allegedly amounting to around Rs 9,000 crore.

A ruling in the case is expected at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on December 10, but the businessman stressed that the extradition issue was a “separate” matter which will take its “own legal course”. “The most important point is public money and I am offering to pay 100 per cent back. I humbly request the banks and government to take it. If payback refused, why?” he questioned in one of his posts on Twitter.

After weeks of silence, Mallya shot off a series of tweets to defend the bank loans he had acquired as a means of keeping his now-defunct Kingfisher Airline afloat. “Airlines struggling financially partly because 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 per cent of the principal amount to them. Please take it,” reads one of his posts.

Making a reference to his liquor group United Breweries, Mallya said “India’s largest alcoholic beverage group” had contributed “thousands of crores” to the state exchequer over the years. He said, “Politicians and the 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.” — PTI