New Delhi: In quite an unusual but assertive note, fugitive business magnate Vijay Mallya sought Thursday to join issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and wondered why the latter was ‘not instructing’ banks to take the money he (Mallya) has offered to pay back.
“I respectfully ask why the Prime Minister is not instructing his banks to take the money I have put on the table so he can at least claim credit for full recovery of public funds lent to Kingfisher,” Mr Mallya wrote in a series of tweets.
The business tycoon, who has been ordered by the UK government for extradition to India also stated that he is surprised why his name is being discussed in references.
“The Prime Minister’s last speech Wednesday in Parliament (Lok Sabha) was brought to my attention. He certainly is a very eloquent speaker. I noticed that he referred to an unnamed person who ran away with Rs 9,000 crores. Given the media narrative I can only infer that reference is to me,” Mallya wrote.
“I have made the offer to settle before the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka. This cannot be dismissed as frivolous. It is a perfectly tangible, sincere, honest and readily achievable offer. The shoe is on the other foot now. Why don’t the banks take the money lent to KFA,” he added.
Mallya also said that he is appalled at the claims made by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that he ‘hid his wealth’. “If there was hidden wealth how could I put approximately Rs 14,000 crores worth of assets openly in front of Court? Shameful misleading of public opinion but unsurprising,” he stated.
The ED has accused Mallya of money-laundering and he is chiefly also charged with defrauding a consortium of banks to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore apart from separate cases of tax evasion.
UNI