‘Not a Chor’: Vijay Mallya Breaks Silence!

Business tycoon Vijay Mallya tendered a rare and pubic apology for the failure of Kingfisher Airlines. Yet, he denied allegations of theft and said people can call him a fugitive but not a ‘chor’.  

In a four-hour podcast with entrepreneur Raj Shamani released on Thursday, he accused the legacy media for spinning out different narratives that he had defaulted on loans worth Rs 9000 crore while in fact, Rs 4,999 crore was taken as loan by Kingfisher Airlines but not Mallya.

He accepted that Mallya was one of the guarantors for the loan taken from the consortium of banks. Additionally, Rs 1,203 crore of unapplied interest was also added, which makes the principal amount Rs 6,203 crore. “For this the government had recovered Rs 14,100 from me.  After the Debt Recovery Tribunal’s (DRT) judgement revealed all these details, where is the scope for chori?”

However, he apologised to everyone for the failure of Kingfisher Airlines. Mallya acknowledged the collapse of the now-defunct airline. He defended his reasons for staying away from India and maintained that the situation was more complex than often portrayed and denied any criminal intent. Mallya revealed his intent to return to India if assured of a fair trail and dignified existence.

Speaking on the allegations of financial misconduct, he said that he may be called a fugitive, but said that he didn’t run away. “I flew on a prescheduled visit. Fair enough, I didn’t 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’?

He has been fighting extradition proceedings in the UK, where he has shifted in 2016 and continues to reside there.