Liquor baron Vijay Mallya has been involved in a controversy by flying from the country after allegedly defaulting on a payment of Rs 900 crore to IDBI bank. He has been summonsed on 18th March over the massive bank loan defaults. Mallya issued a furious tweet on Friday, saying that he has not fled the county and that he would comply with the law.
Defending himself, Mallya says that being a businessman, he often travels away from India and he is not an absconder. However, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summonsed him as part of its money laundering case and he is expected to appear before investigators in Mumbai on 18th March.
Officials revealed that Mallya was summoned under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the IDBI case and as part of the probe was ordered to furnish documents related to his personal finances.
The ED charged Mallya and others in a CBI complaint under various sections of PMLA. In an FIR, CBI has booked Mallya, Raghunathan (a former chief financial officer of the grounded Kingfisher Airlines) and unknown IDBI officials against the alleged loan section in violation of credit norms.
ED alleges Vijay Mallya money-laundering.
Questioning the seriousness of the service tax department in recovering dues running into crores, the Bombay high court asked why it did not serve all parties immediately? And why did it wait till 2nd March to approach the high court.
It was noted the high court had issued notices in September and December last year and summonsed them asking for their responses to the service tax department’s charges. However, the notices were only served a month before Mallya left for London.
Vijay Mallya, who is also an MP, in a tweet called himself a victim of a media trial and was harsh with his words towards the editor of one TV channel.
“As an Indian MP I fully respect and will comply with the law of the land. Our judicial system is sound and respected. But no trial by media,” Mallya tweeted.
“Let media bosses not forget help, favors, accommodation that I have provided over several years which are documented. Not lies to gain TRP.”
While being so aggressive against the alleged flying from the country and showing his trust in the law, Mallya has neither revealed his location nor has disclosed his flights to return to India.
In the political discourse of India, the issue has caused much political heat as the congress has attacked the government by accusing them of being a party to the exit of the businessman.
Raising a big question mark on his “exit,” Gulam Nabi Azad asked the government why was he not stopped?
Now the question remains: will Vijay Mallya return to India and appear before the Bombay high court and prove that he did not flee the country but was on business travel as he often is.
