Vijay Mallya's Good Times Continue

The King of Good Times can teach a thing or two on how to live it up at the Indian taxpayers’ expense. Even in his supposedly harrowing times, when New Delhi is trying to extradite Vijay Mallya from UK, the former liquor baron betrays not the slightest sign of fear or remorse. His extravagant lifestyle had dominated many a conversation when he was ruling the roost in India.

Abroad, he continues to raise eyebrows for the same reasons. Mallya had shown up at the charity dinner organised by the Virat Kohli Foundation in London recently, though he was apparently not invited. His presence forced the Indian cricket team to run for cover — the players didn’t want to rake up a controversy by being photographed with him. That would have been disastrous since the fugitive businessman is wanted for alleged unpaid dues to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore.

Mallya had the gall to also attend the India-Pakistan Champions Trophy match at Edgbaston on Sunday when he was snapped with Sunil Gavaskar. The photo has gone viral on social media, much to the embarrassment of the former cricketer’s fans.

Though out on bail, it appears that Mallya is confident about putting up a tough fight against his extradition. That explains why he deliberately showed up at the two high-profile events. It’s almost like issuing an open challenge to the Indian authorities: Catch me if you can. The long arm of the law has to negotiate a labyrinthine judicial process to grab Mallya by the scruff of his neck.