Vijay Mallya offers Rs 6,868 crore for settlement, ready to deposit Rs 1590/- croreTop Stories

April 22, 2016 12:31
Vijay Mallya offers Rs 6,868 crore for settlement, ready to deposit Rs 1590/- crore

The Indian liquor baron, king of good times, Vijay Mallya, battling creditors seeking to recover dues, offered to deposit Rs 1,590 crore ($240 million) with India's top court to establish his intent to settle with lenders who had rejected an earlier payment proposal.

Maintaining that he is neither a “willful defaulter” nor has he absconded, Vijay Mallya informed the Supreme Court that the total value of overseas assets owned by him and his immediate family is worth Rs 780 crore, but the SBI-led consortium of banks have no right to access the details of these assets.

Vijay Mallya told the Supreme Court that he is prepared to deposit an additional Rs 2,468 crore over and above the earlier offer of Rs 4,400 crore.

The elusive liquor baron said that he can deposit a token money of Rs 1,591 crore, if the court allows sale of equity shares of United Spirits Ltd and withdrawal of cash deposit of Rs 379 crore from Laxmi Vilas Bank. The affidavit added apart from Rs 1,591 crore, there is another Rs 1,329 crore deposit being held on the orders of the Karnataka High Court.

“The Kingfisher Airlines was a genuine commercial / business failure and it is vehemently denied that any loan advanced by any of the petitioner banks to the Airlines has been at all misused or otherwise Respondent No. 3 (Mallya) has amassed assets / properties in the names of his family members or relatives or friends with intention to defeat the purpose of recovery of alleged dues,” the affidavit stated.

Mallya told the court that overseas assets are not considered while granting loans and sought permission to file information of his assets in a sealed cover on June 26. He submitted that he is making all efforts to work out a settlement "in all sincerity" by offering to pay "to the extent possible and feasible" until the government suspended his passport and a court in Mumbai issued a non-bailable warrant against him, he said in the filing.

Armed with a non-bailable arrest warrant, the Enforcement Directorate has approached the External Affairs Ministry seeking initiation of deportation proceedings against Mallya in connection with its money laundering probe against him in the Rs 900 crore IDBI alleged loan fraud case.

Once the deportation proceedings are initiated, MEA will seek assistance of its counterparts in the United Kingdom to interdict Mallya and fly him back to India. "The grounds for deportation are primarily two. A non-bailable warrant issued by the Mumbai court and suspension of the passport of the businessman," they said.

By Premji

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