‘Yet, I remain an economic offender’: Vijay Mallya cries foul over banks recovering Rs 14,131.60 cr from him

In a post on X, he asserted that unless the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and banks can legally justify why they have seized more than double the debt, he is entitled to relief.

"The Debt Recovery Tribunal adjudged the KFA (Kingfisher Airlines) debt at Rs 6203 crores including Rs 1200 crores of interest. The FM announced in Parliament that through the ED, Banks have recovered Rs 14,131.60 crores from me against the judgement debt of Rs 6203 crores and I am still an economic offender.

“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 said.

On Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned several significant cases in which the Enforcement Directorate had attached properties of individuals and companies linked to economic offences.

Addressing the debate on the Supplementary Demands for Grants - First Batch for 2024-2025, she informed the Lok Sabha that the central enforcement agency had successfully restored properties worth around Rs 22,280 crore, covering only the major cases.

Among those restored, the entire attached property worth Rs 14,131.6 crore of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya had been returned to public sector banks, the minister stated.

In the case of another fugitive, Nirav Modi, Rs 1,052.58 crore had been restored to public and private sector banks.

Further, properties from the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) scam worth Rs 17.47 crore, SRS Group at Rs 20.15 crore, Rose Valley Group at Rs 19.40 crore, Surya Pharmaceuticals Ltd at Rs 185.13 crore, Heera Group (Nowhera Sheikh and others) at Rs 226 crore, and Naidu Amrutesh Reddy and others at Rs 12.73 crore had also been recovered.

Properties worth Rs 2,565.90 crore linked to Mehul Choksi and others were also restored, she said.

Highlighting these figures of attached properties and their restoration to the banks, the Finance Minister emphasized that her government had not let anyone involved in economic offences escape.

"It is important to recognise that we have not left anybody in economic offences; we are after them. We will ensure that money that has to go to the banks goes back," she said in Lok Sabha during her reply. The Union Minister also expressed confidence in economic growth, describing the slower second-quarter GDP growth as a "temporary blip."