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| Edited By: DNA |Source: DNA |Updated: Feb 06, 2019, 07:05 AM IST
The noose is tightening around fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya’s neck now that the British Home Secretary has authorised his extradition.
The Modi government has shown exceptional resilience and doggedness in pursuing the case. If it is successful in bringing him back, the BJP can showcase this remarkable achievement to voters.
It sends a very powerful message to the electorate: That the rich and the mighty cannot escape the laws of the land. At the same time, the other two — Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi — holed up outside India will have to be brought back so that industrialists who have contributed to the stressed assets of nationalised banks abandon all hopes of leaving this country.
Mallya has been singing a ‘reconciliatory tune’ for a while. He had written in a social media post: “I am offering to pay 100 per cent back. I humbly request the banks and Government to take it.” He has shown assets in excess of what the banks claim, namely of Rs 13,900 crore and has offered a sale of them under judicial supervision to repay creditors.
Recall that Mallya had fled the country on March 2, 2016, after defrauding banks in the form of loans now worth Rs 10,000 crore. He is also accused of money laundering and engaging in criminal conspiracy. Legally speaking, Mallya hasn’t exhausted all his options. He will appeal to the Supreme Court against the high court’s decision. But chances of the ruling being overturned are slim. There is a freeze on his assets and he can’t dodge the inevitable anymore. A consortium of 13 Indian banks are now bringing bankruptcy proceedings against him. If he had truly wanted to repay his loans, he wouldn’t have left for Britain in the hope for a safe haven.
