Vijay Mallya offers to return 100% of bank loans: report
05 Dec 2018
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Fugitive liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya on Wednesday offered to pay back 100 per cent of "public money" mostly borrowed from lender banks, even as he said his extradition from the UK to India will take its own legal course.
Mallya, who has been fighting a legal battle to ward off his extradition to India, claimed that he has been falsely implicated as a "defaulter" after a concerted propaganda by politicians and the media, a PTI reports quoting sources said today.
“I see quick media narrative about my extradition decision. That is separate and will take its own legal course,” he said in a series of tweets.
A UK court had in September fixed 10 December as the date to deliver its verdict on whether beleaguered liquor baron can be extradited to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to around Rs9,000 crore.
"The most important point is the 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 (sic)," he added.
Mallya, who fled to the UK in March 2016, is wanted in India over Rs9,000 crore dues to creditor banks after his Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) defaulted on payments to several banks.
"Politicians and media are constantly talking loudly about me being a defaulter, who has run away with PSU bank money. All this is false,” Mallya said.
"Why don't I get fair treatment and the same loud noise about my comprehensive settlement offer before Karnataka High Court. Sad," he added.
He claimed he had made the offer to settle the dues to the banks since 2016.
On the fall of KFA, he said, Kingfisher faced the "highest ever crude prices of $140 per barrel."
"Losses mounted and that's where the banks' money went. I have offered to repay 100 per cent of the principal amount to them. Please take it," he tweeted.
