Spare me as you have recovered double the money: Vijay Mallya to govt

New Delhi: Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya on Wednesday raised concerns over the recovery of assets by Indian banks and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). 

Mallya, who is currently based in the UK, highlighted that the Debt Recovery Tribunal adjudged the Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) debt at Rs 6,203 crores, including Rs 1,200 crores of interest. However, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in Parliament that banks have recovered Rs 14,131.60 crores from him, which is more than twice the adjudged debt.

Mallya argued that since the recovery exceeds the debt by such a margin, he should be entitled to some form of relief. "Unless the ED and Banks can legally justify how they have taken more than two times the debt, I am entitled to relief which I will pursue," Mallya tweeted.

Mallya, who has been declared a 'fugitive economic offender', insists that he has not committed any wrongdoing and that the government's actions against him are excessively punitive. 

The Finance Minister's office has not yet responded to Mallya's comments. Meanwhile, the government continues its efforts to recover assets from economic offenders. 

Sitharaman on Tuesday said the Enforcement Directorate has restored properties worth Rs 22,280 crore to the victims or rightful claimants and asserted that the fight against economic offenders will continue unabated.

Replying to a debate on the first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants in the Lok Sabha, she said Rs 14,131.6 crore worth properties belonging to fugitive Vijay Mallya have been restored to public sector banks.

As regards the Nirav Modi case, properties to the tune of Rs 1,052.58 crore have been restored to PSBs and private banks.

In the Mehul Choksi case, properties worth Rs 2,565.90 crore have been attached and will be auctioned.

In the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) case, Rs 17.47 crore worth properties were restored to the genuine investors who were defrauded.