Vijay Mallya indicates he won't return for now, makes bakras of all tax-payers

As the Indian judiciary and banks efforts to recover Rs 9,000 crore dues from billionaire Vijay Mallya reach a level of desperation, the liquor baron who is estimated to be worth about Rs 7,000 crore has indicated that he may not return to India at all.

"I do not feel the time is right. I feel passions are high. People need to think rationally," he said in an interview to the Sunday Guardian. In an indication he may even choose not to return at all, he has also said that he hoped that he would "return one day".

He said, loan defaults are a business matter and banks give out loans knowing the risk involved. "They decide, we don’t. Our own business was flourishing, but plummeted suddenly. Don’t make me the villain. I have the best intentions. I’m quiet because I fear my words will be twisted like of others," Mallya said.

On being asked he left country after being tipped off about the banks moving court, Mallya said it's a matter of interpretation and don't need anyone to tip hin off about anything. "I’ve never hidden any aspect about my life. I’m one of the most open people. I’m forced to go into hiding and that makes me sick," said Mallya.

He also said the time is not right for him to return to India as he has already been branded as a criminal, and will not get a fair chance to present his side.

Interestingly, the statement has come at a time when the Hyderabad Court has issued a non-bailable warrant againt Mallya. On Friday, the Hyderabad court issued a warrant after he failed to appear in a court here in connection with alleged dishonour of a cheque of Rs 50 lakh to GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd.

Cocking a snook at the Indian legal system and the tax payers at large, Mallya also said in the interview that he is an Indian to the core. "India has given me everything. It made me Vijay Mallya," he has said.Vijay Mallya

Interestingly, the statement has come at a time when the Hyderabad Court has issued a non-bailable warrant againt Mallya. On Friday, the court issued a warrant after he failed to appear in a court here in connection with the alleged dishonour of a cheque of Rs 50 lakh to GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd.

The counsel for Mallya, who is at the centre of a raging controversy after he left the country amid continuing efforts by banks to recover dues totalling over Rs 9,000 crore of unpaid loans and interest, said he will move the high court seeking quashing of the non-bailable warrant (NBW).

The 14th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court issued the NBWs on March 10 against the now defunct now-defunct Kingfisher Airline, its chairman Vijay Mallya and another senior official of the company and posted the matter for 13 April.

GMR counsel G. Ashok Reddy said, “He (Mallya) and others were supposed to appear before the court on March 10. They did not appear.... Hence, court issued NBW order which has to be executed by  13 April.”

There are a total of 11 cases involving Rs 8 crore payment to GMR and the NBWs were issued in connection with a Rs 50-lakh bounced cheque, he said.

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, or GHIAL, which runs Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, had filed a petition in the court seeking Mallya's prosecution for defaulting on payments and cheating them by allegedly issuing cheques that bounced.

Advocate H. Sudhakar Rao, appearing for Mallya said, “NBWs have been issued in this case. There are other cases going on wherein we have got orders from High Court dispensing with his (Mallya's) attendence.”

”I will be filing an application in the high court for quashing this order of issuing warrants,” Rao told PTI.

When contacted, GMR refused to comment on the issue saying the matter is sub-judice.

GHIAL in October 2012 had withdrawn a case over “bounced” cheques against Mallya after the airline agreed to pay the outstanding amount due to the airport operator.

The court had also then issued NBWs against five senior executives of the airline, including Mallya.

”After the case was withdrawn, only a part of the due amount was paid and later they defaulted after which 11 cases were now filed against the airline under provisions of the Negotiable Instruments Act,” sources said.

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CBI to probe if netas pushed Vijay Mallya loans

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will probe if some public sector banks were pressured into lending and restructuring loans extended to the now defunct Kingfisher AirlinesBSE 3.03 %.

On a day when Vijay Mallya did not respond to an email from Enforcement Directorate asking him to appear before it on March 18 even as his close associate Ravi Nedungadi evaded answering questions fielded by the media, CBI sources said the role of "political pressure" would be the focus of their probe into cases involving the liquor baron.

'Real driver' behind Rs 900cr loan under lens

 
The sources said the agency was seeking to find out the "real driver" of the decision of IDBI BankBSE -1.44 % to extend a loan of Rs 900 crore to KFA when the airline had sub-par credit rating and auditors flagged concerns about its poor financial health, including failure to deposit with the tax department Rs 111 crore that it had deducted while making payments.

The CBI's interest in the "political angle" also stems from the fact that the bankers chose to take the brand as collateral, despite their historical reluctance to use intangible assets as security.

The banks cited the Grant Thornton's valuation of Rs 3,400 crore for KFA brand. This despite the lack of clarity in the Companies Act over whether brands could be treated as assets.

Similarly in 2012, while restructuring the loans to the grounded carrier, banks decided to convert the loans into equity. They also reduced the interest rate and agreed to provide more funding despite KFA's sliding stock price.

The UPA was in power when lenders, including IDBI Bank, approved the loan even as there was reluctance among the banks to lend.

Sources said that at CBI's behest, the Serious Frauds Investigation Office (SFIO) is also looking at the remittances of Mallya's companies.

A parallel probe by ED was also intensifying, with a notice being sent to the beleaguered businessman to appear before them on March 18.

However, Mallya was yet to respond to the email sent by the agency, even as his close aide and former UB group chief financial officer Ravi Nedungadi remained evasive during questioning by ED in Mumbai on Saturday.

Sources in the ED said Nedungadi has not given any information about Mallya's investments, properties that he owns abroad and is only sticking to facts which are already in the public domain.

They said Nedungadi was trying to "frustrate" ED's attempts to get details about Mallya's financial transactions.

The agency has again called him for interrogation on Monday which is expected to be a busy day for the ED since they also have an appointment with former Maharashtra PWD minister Chaggan Bhujbal who has been called for questioning in a money laundering case.

Investigative agencies say Raghunathan and Nedungadi are crucial links in the case as they were close to Mallya.
 

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Vijay Mallya escape: Why did CBI loosen its grip on the billionaire? Was the King of Good Times tipped off?

In the whole of Vijay Mallya saga so far, there is one question that holds the key for the liquor baron’s timely escape to the UK, a week before 17 Indian banks moved the Supreme Court seeking his detention, citing the Rs 9,000 crore he owes to them, and the first right over the Rs 500 crore severance pay from Diageo.

Why did the Central Bureau of investigation (CBI) alter the nature of the look-out notice it issued to immigration authorities on Mallya within a month, enabling him to plan his escape from the country without hassles?

In the first place, the CBI wanted Mallya to be in the country, which is why it issued the look-out notice. If the agency believed that the Kingfisher case is critical enough to detain Mallya within the country, what changed its stance within a month, prompting it to relax the restriction? Was the agency asked to do it? Also, one can’t rule out the possibility that Mallya was tipped off about the banks’ move in the Supreme Court.

Consider this sequence of events:

On 16 October 2015, the CBI first issued a look-out notice on Mallya asking the Bureau of Immigration (BoI) to detain Mallya at the airport if he tries to leave out of the country. This notice made it impossible for the flamboyant ‘King of Good Times’ to leave the country.

But in November, just a month later, another look-out notice came from the same agency, this time, asking the BoI only to inform it about Mallya’s departure and his travel plans and not detain him.

On 25 February, Vijay Mallya resigns from the USL board as its chairman securing a fat $75 million (Rs 500 crore) severance pay from Diageo as part of a non-compete agreement. Mallya, in a statement, leaves a hint that he would want to move to UK ‘to be closer to his family’ and is still in dialogues with banks for a One Time Settlement.

On 26 February: SBI, the lead bank in the consortium, approaches the Bangalore DRT seeking the arrest of Mallya, first right on his $75 million pay and impounding his passport, but the DRT postpones the case.

On 26 February: In a text message to Firstpost, SBI chairman, Arundhati Bhattacharya said the bank is taking further action in the context of Mallya hinting to leave the country. “We are taking action as per law to protect our interests,” said Bhattacharya.

On 1 March: Mallya attends the Rajya Sabha in his capacity as a Member of Parliament.

On 2 March: Mallya leaves India with seven bags and with an unidentified woman in a Jet Airways flight.

On 7 March: The Bengaluru DRT finally issues an interim order only putting a temporary ban on Mallya from drawing the severance pay. Earlier in the day, the Enforcement Directorate registered a money laundering case against him and others in connection with the alleged default of loans worth Rs 900 crore from IDBI Bank. Why did the ED take much time to register this case, which has been there for while?

On 8 March: The SBI-led consortium files a Special Leave Petition in Supreme Court seeking the intervention of the court to prevent Mallya from leaving the country. But, it was almost a week by then since Mallya left the country.

Assuming that banks were not aware of Mallya’s exit on 2 March, one thing becomes clear. Mallya’s move of leaving the country (if indeed he has moved out with an intention to move out of the law) wasn’t decided in a day. It was planned in advance. Mallya knew what was coming and the idea was made possible only because the CBI changed the nature of its look-out notice. One should also note the fact that he had already received part of his severance pay ($40 million) by this time.

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