London: A United Kingdom court has ordered the extradition of businessman Vijay Mallya to India to face charges of financial irregularities running into thousands of crores.
“Whatever the judgement, my legal team will reveal the judgment and take proper steps thereafter. Yes, I have tweeted saying that I want to repay, that has nothing to do with this extradition issue. It’s a completely separate matter,” Mallya told the press this morning while entering the court premises.
Mallya also said that he has not stolen anyone’s money and his offer to pay back the loan amount of banks is not a bogus one.
The 62-year-old former boss of Kingfisher Airlines has been on bail since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April last year. He has contested that the extradition case against him is “politically motivated” and the loans he has been accused of defrauding on were sought to keep his now-defunct airline afloat.
“I did not borrow a single rupee. The borrower was Kingfisher Airlines. Money was lost due to a genuine and sad business failure. Being held as guarantor is not fraud,” he said in a post on Twitter recently.
“I have offered to repay 100 per cent of the principal amount to them. Please take it,” the flamboyant businessman tweeted earlier.
A joint team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) led by CBI joint director A Sai Manohar are in the United Kingdom for the court proceedings.
