Narendra Modi, in an exclusive interview to Arnab Goswami on his news channel Republic Bharat on March 29th, expressed satisfaction that fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s extradition process was in the last stages and that his government brought in the law (i.e the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act of 2018) that enabled confiscation of assets and properties of fugitives in any part of the world. Taking the specific example of Mallya, he stated that recovery agencies, under the umbrella of his government, have managed to confiscate properties belonging to Mallya from across the globe worth ₹ 14,000 crores which was more than the ₹ 9,000 crores he owed to banks, and that now Mallya was in trouble because they intend to take double the amount from him.
The 63 year old beleaguered booze baron, used these statements to his advantage and turned the tables on Modi, claiming that by the Prime Minister’s own admission that recovery of assets was higher than the amount Mallya owed to banks, therefore, he was vindicated and absolved of any further criminal proceedings.
In his characteristic style of issuing statements through social media, Mallya, via a series of tweets stated that “I humbly submit that my assertion that I am a poster boy is fully vindicated by the PM’s own statement about me that his Govt has recovered more than what I allegedly owe the banks”. He further went on to say that “the highest authority has confirmed full recovery so why do BJP spokespersons still continue their rhetoric?”
Mallya is currently awaiting the outcome of his appeal against British Home Secretary Sajid Javid’s permission to extradite him back to India.
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