Why PM Modi is not instructing banks to accept my offer, tweets Vijay Mallya as extradition date nears

Vijay Mallya on Wednesday posted a series of tweets asking PM Modi to instruct Indian banks to accept the money he has put on the table to settle all the dues.

UK court, earlier this month, allowed extradition of Vijay Mallya to India. (Image: AFP)

New Delhi: Fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Wednesday posted a series of tweets asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to instruct Indian banks to accept the money he has put on the table to settle all the dues. Mallya, in four recent tweets, referred to PM Modi’s speech in Parliament while replying to the motion of thanks on the President's address in the Lok Sabha last week. “The Prime Ministers last speech in Parliament was brought to my attention. He certainly is a very eloquent speaker. I noticed that he referred to an unnamed person who “ran away” with 9000 crores. Given the media narrative I can only infer that reference is to me,” Mallya tweeted. PM Modi had said that those who fled the country after being accused of scams were crying foul on micro-blogging site Twitter. This is not for the first time that Mallya had proposed to settle all the dues which his defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes to Indian Banks. Mallya and his lawyers on several instances have claimed inside and outside courts that the fugitive businessman is willing to settle with Indian banks, but for unexplained reasons his offer is not being taken up. “Following on from my earlier tweet, I respectfully ask why the Prime Minister is not instructing his Banks to take the money I have put on the table so he can at least claim credit for full recovery of public funds lent to Kingfisher,” Mallya’s second tweet read. Mallya further urged that his request could not be dismissed as 'frivolous' and that the shoe was 'on the other foot now'. “I have made the offer to settle before the Hon’Ble High Court Court of Karnataka. This cannot be dismissed as frivolous. It is a perfectly tangible, sincere, honest and readily achievable offer. The shoe is on the other foot now. Why don’t the Banks take the money lent to KFA?,” Mallya’s third tweet read. Last but not least, Mallya pointed out that he was appalled to read that Enforcement Directorate claims of him hiding his wealth. “Am appalled to say the least at the media reports on the Enforcement Directorate claims that I hid my wealth! If there was hidden wealth how could I put approximately 14,000 crores worth of assets openly in front of Court? Shameful misleading of public opinion but unsurprising,” he tweeted. In a major blow to the escapee businessman earlier this month, UK court allowed his extradition boosting India’s effort to bring him back. An ED investigation had earlier pointed out that the 63-year-old businessman has no intentions of paying back the loans of over Rs 5,500 crore to a consortium of Indian banks even though creditors agreed to restructure the loans given to Kingfisher Airlines.