Furious at loss of assets, Vijay Mallya issues string of tweets on his birthday, takes solace in bromance with Lalit Modi | India News – Times of India

TOI Correspondent from London: Embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya has lambasted the Indian govt for selling his Indian assets to pay the banks back more than double his judgment debt, branding this as “blatant injustice”.
Mallya posted a string of tweets late Wednesday, his 69th birthday, in response to finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement in Parliament on Tuesday.
Mallya tweeted: “The FM announced that through the ED, banks have recovered Rs 14,131.6 crores from me against the judgement debt of Rs 6,203 crores and I am still an economic offender. Unless the ED and banks can legally justify how they have taken more than two times the debt, I am entitled to relief which I will pursue.”
He said the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) adjudged the Kingfisher Airlines debt at Rs 6,203 crores, “including Rs 1,200 crores of interest”.
“Yet more than Rs 8,000 crores have been recovered from me over and above the judgment debt,” he wrote. “Will anyone, including those who freely abuse me, stand up and question this blatant injustice? To be seen to support a much maligned me requires guts. Sadly, no guts for justice, particularly for me.”
On Jan 19, 2017 the DRT said that Mallya owed Rs 6,203 crore to a consortium of state-owned Indian banks.The loans were given to Kingfisher Airlines and Mallya’s debt derives from a personal guarantee. By July 2021, when Mallya was made bankrupt in the UK, the amount Mallya owed, including interest, was £1.05 billion (Rs 11,263 crore).
In another tweet he wrote: “Govt and my many critics say that I have CBI criminal cases to answer. What criminal cases filed by CBI? Never borrowed a single rupee, never stole, but as guarantor of KFA debt I am accused by CBI together with many others, including IDBI Bank officials, of fraudulently obtaining a Rs 900 crore loan from IDBI Bank duly approved by their credit committee and board. Full loan and interest repaid. After nine years, why no conclusive evidence of fraud and misuse of funds?”
Mallya seemed to find solace in a new bromance with IPL founder Lalit Modi, who lives in the UK and himself has been the subject of various criminal investigations in India. Lalit tweeted images of himself up close with Mallya during the “good times” and wrote: “Wishing you my friend #vijaymallya a very #happybirthday – life sure has its ups and downs we have both seen it. This too shall pass.” Mallya replied: “Thank you my dearest friend… we both have been wronged in a country we tried to contribute to.”
The Indian govt wants to extradite Mallya to face charges of criminal conspiracy and cheating in relation to loans made by IDBI Bank to Kingfisher Airlines in 2009. Govt claims Mallya obtained the loans fraudulently by making misrepresentations. Mallya denies this. Despite losing his legal battles in the UK against extradition, he remains in London.