Vijay Mallya, Now King of Bad Loans!

Known for his style statement, liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s sudden absence from the country has left the government and banks with copious questions to be answered to the entire nation and rival political parties as the government failed to stop an industrialist, with a bad loan of around Rs 9,000 crores, to flee from the country.

Surprisingly, Mallya made a silent exit from the country on March 2, three days before a conglomerate of 17 banks headed by the State Bank of India approached the court to seize Mallya’s passport. As revealed by the Times Now, Mallya is currently staying at his country house in the suburbs of London.

As declared by the court, notice has been issued to Mallya to appear and declare his assets. If he fails to do so, his passport will be revoked.

While talking about the procedure, attorney general Mukul Rohatgi said, “Once his passport is revoked, then technically a person does not have any right to reside anywhere else…then the country where the person is, forces him to go back to the country from where he has come.”

The dealing of Mallya’s case has raised many questions on the conduct of such cases by the finance ministry and banks. An earlier and immediate action against Mallya could have stopped him from fleeing the country, however, the delay in the proceedings worked as an advantage for the “King of Good Times”.

Unperturbed by the repayment of a huge loan, Mallya is back to leading lavish lifestyle in London and is using his social-networking account sans any fear.

Everything now lies on Mallya. The loan can be repaid to the banks only if he returns to India and makes the settlement with banks through his personal assets. Mallya’s net worth is more than $1.2 billion.

Now the question is: Will he return?