‘If I get assurance of fair trial, dignified existence…': Vijay Mallya on return to India, being called ‘fugitive'
Fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who has been living in the United Kingdom since March 2016, said he would 'seriously consider' returning to India if he is assured of a fair trial and a dignified existence in his home country.
In a four-hour-long video podcast aired on Thursday, host Raj Shamani told Mallya that he is tagged as a 'fugitive' and 'fraud' because he chose not to come back to India. To this, Mallya said: 'Call me a fugitive for not going to India post-March (2016). I didn't run away, I flew out of India on a prescheduled visit. Fair enough, I did not return for reasons that I consider are valid, so if you want to call me a fugitive, go ahead, but where is the 'chor' coming from… where is the 'chori'?'
Mallya, who left India on March 2, 2016, is wanted in India as an accused in a bank loan default case of over Rs 9,000 crore involving his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.
His companies including United Breweries (Holdings) Ltd are under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy, money laundering and diversion of loan funds lent by to a consortium of Indian banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI).
In April last year, the Indian government is learnt to have asked French authorities to approve his extradition 'without preconditions'. This was in line with New Delhi pursuing Mallya's extradition with countries where he has property and with whom the nation has an extradition treaty.
In 2020, Mallya lost his application to appeal against extradition proceedings in the UK Supreme Court.
On the crisis, the founder and former owner of the airlines spoke about feeling the impact of how it unfolded as someone who is not used to business failure. 'I faced the crisis of the Kingfisher Airlines, I've felt it more than anyone else. I gave it my all, but kept myself together because I was a leader. If I had crumbled, the airlines would have crumbled sooner than it did,' he said.
Calling the airlines a 'wonderful product', he added: 'I was not used to business failure. I built my core business in alcohol into something I could be greatly proud of. I failed with Kingfisher. It was a wonderful product, probably the most awarded airline ever… Circumstances at the time, government policies didn't help, and mounting losses led to its downfall. The final straw was not letting Etihad Airways not invest in Kingfisher.'
Mallya is currently defending multiple legal issues in the courts of law, both in the UK and India.
On having to face the worse if 'it is destined' for him, the 69-year-old said going to jail 'might be' inevitable.
'It is very clear what the Indian government wants, what the Indian media anchors want. Jail clothes, jail food in Tihar or Arthur Road or God knows where in India,' he added.
Further, the businessman also claimed that he made four settlement offers between 2012, following the collapse of the Kingfisher Airlines, and 2015, which the banks 'refused to accept'.
Responding to a question losing the case in the UK court to Indian authorities, he said that his stay in England is fully legitimate. On his extradition proceedings, Mallya said: 'But, you should also be aware that there are other people who the government of India is targeting for extradition from the UK back to India in whose case, they have got a judgment from the high court of appeal that Indian detention conditions are violative of article 3 of the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights) and therefore they can't be sent back.'
When asked if it is still important for him to win the case, he justified: 'Yes, because I want to win on merit. What have I done wrong? I have done nothing wrong. I'm not a criminal… They just lock you up and throw away the key, that's not justice.'
The liquor baron added that it is unfortunate that a businessman who fails is equated to a fraudster in India.
'The CBI and the ED are well known to concoct, fabricate and present false evidence. That's fine, but they have to prove it. The norm is you are innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around. If they want to convict me for bad intention, I'll fight it. Win or lose, I'll fight it,' he added.
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