Forget bank holidays, Vijay Mallya’s tweeting on workday now; challenges to FM’s Rs 140000000000 recovery claim

For the past many years, microblogging site X has been generously flooded with memes of how Vijay Mallya tweets only on bank holidays. The Twitter fury and mockery is unleashed every time he posts to extend greetings on national holidays. However, on Wednesday, he tweeted to defend himself and claim his innocence.

Mallya, deemed a financial fugitive of India for many years now, claimed that more than double the amount that his company Kingfisher owed in debts has been paid off and has been recovered by the banks.

He even responded to Lalit Modi’s birthday wish; and said that they both had been wronged in a country they tried contributing to. Mallya’s jibe at the nation’s system also came in response to Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement in the Parliament that banks recovered Vijay Mallya’s assets worth Rs 14,131.6 crore and returned to public sector banks.

Mallya pointed out that this amount was more than twice the debt adjudicated by courts and questioned how he was still an economic offender of the nation.

“The FM announced in Parliament that through the ED, banks have recovered Rs 14,131.60 crore from me against the judgement debt of Rs 6,203 crore 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 wrote in a post.

The buck stops at banks who lent?

Passing the buck to banks that lent him credit, he also said, “Government and my many critics say that I have CBI criminal cases to answer. What criminal cases filed by the 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 9 years, why no conclusive evidence of fraud and misuse of funds?”

Mallya is currently fighting an extradition case from the UK to India. Reportedly, in April this year, the Indian government asked the French authorities to approve extradition of the former Kingfisher Airlines tycoon “without preconditions.” His case was raised in the 16th meeting of the India-France Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism, held in April.

Even though Mallya currently resides in the UK, India has been pursuing his case with French authorities and other nations where Mallya has property and with whom New Delhi has an extradition treaty.

Earlier this year, a special court in Mumbai also issued non-bailable warrants against the fugitive businessman in connection with yet another loan default case involving Indian Overseas Bank. Known for his extravagant lifestyle and flamboyant ways of entertaining his close friends, Mallya’s case recurrently makes headlines and has also inspired a docu-series Bad Boy Billionaires.