I'm like a football being kicked around by two teams, says Vijay Mallya
With the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government planning to frame a law to prevent loan defaulters from fleeing the country, beleaguered liquor baron Vijay Mallya has likened himself to a "football" being kicked around by "two fiercely competitive teams" — the NDA and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
By : migrator
Update: 2017-02-03 07:29 GMT
New Delhi
Hitting out at the ongoing investigations by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and efforts to extradite him from the UK, Mallya also alleged that the media has been used against him.
"Media happily being used as the pitch. I am the football. Two fiercely competitive teams NDA versus UPA playing. Unfortunately, no referees," Mallya said in a tweet.
In Budget 2017-18, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had stated that the government plans to bring in a law to confiscate the assets of loan defaulters till they submit to the judiciary.
In the recent past, there have been instances of "big-time offenders, including economic offenders" fleeing the country to escape the reach of the law, Jaitley had said while presenting the Budget. "We have to ensure that the law is allowed to take its own course," the finance minister had said.
Jaitley said that legislative changes or even a new law would be brought in to deal with such absconders.
With CBI hot on his trail for extradition, Mallya also hit out at the investigating agency for making "false and misconceived" allegations.
"Am shocked at CBI allegations. All false and misconceived, to say the least. What do a bunch of elite Police know about business and economics?" Mallya asked.
Last week, a CBI court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Mallya in the Rs 720-crore IDBI Bank loan default case as the agency sought his extradition from the UK.
Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had left India on March 2.
The total attachment made by the agency, in this case, has now shot up to Rs 8,041 crore. This was one of the largest attachment of assets made by the Enforcement Directorate in a Prevention of Money Laundering Act case till date.
The agency had registered a money laundering case against Mallya and others based on a FIR registered last year by CBI.
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