Vijay Mallya releases letter to PM Modi, says ready to settle all dues

Fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Tuesday made public his letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in 2016. Mallya, who is wanted in India over loan default cases, said that he was making “every possible effort” to settle all the dues.

Mallya broke his silence over the issue after a long time and said that he was doing so to state the “factual position in response to the controversy, unfortunately, surrounding” him.

"I wrote to both the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister on April 15, 2016, and I am making these letters public to put things in the right perspective. No response was received from either of them," PTI quoted Mallya as saying.

Mallya, who escaped to the UK in 2016, said that he was ready to settle all dues with the Public Sector Banks but “politically motivated” factors were interfering in the matter.

"I respectfully say that I have made and continue to make every effort, in good faith to settle with the Public Sector Banks. If politically motivated extraneous factors interfere, there is nothing that I can do," he said.

Often called the "King of good times", the 62-year-old businessman said that he was tired of the Indian Government's "relentless pursuit" against him.

“Recovery of loans is a civil matter which has been criminalised in my case. I am tired of this relentless pursuit of me by the government and its criminal agencies,” Reuters quoted Mallya as saying.

Vijay Mallya, who owns the IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore, is wanted in India for defaulting loans of state-run banks worth around 9,000 crore. The Government of India is making all the possible efforts for Mallya's extradition from the UK. He was even arrested in 2017 on an extradition warrant. However, he was granted bail within minutes of his arrest.