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The 'King Of Bad Times'

The 'King Of Bad Times'

Vijay Mallya who was once the ‘King of good times’ faced a serious decline in fortunes with his ‘Kingfisher Airlines’ venture that turned out to be a disaster.

The Airlines which ceased operations in 2012 is nearly $1.2 billion in debt. Vijay Mallya had borrowed around Rs 6300 crore from various Indian banks with IDBI being the primary lender.

However, the general perception in the nation is that Mallya being a RS member with wide political contacts would get away ‘scott-free’.

Last month, in order to overcome his financial crisis, he had signed a  $75 million deal with Diageo to relinquish the chairmanship of United Spirits Ltd (USL), which the British spirits maker now owns. But trouble is brewing for Mallya with Indian authorities moving against him.

A Debt Recovery Tribunal restrained him from accessing the Rs 515 crore that he received from the sale of the spirits business to Diageo Plc while the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a money laundering case against the flamboyant businessman.

The tribunal passed an interim order asking Mallya not to receive the money and corporate entities Diageo and USL not to disburse the amount during pendency of the application filed by SBI and other banks.

The banks say they have lent about Rs 6,300 crore to the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines Ltd. The ED also registered a case against Mallya, and the former chief financial officer of Kingfisher Airlines for fraudulently obtaining a Rs 900 crore loan from IDBI Bank and laundering the money.

Four senior IDBI Bank executives are also accused in the case. Mallya is thoroughly miffed but for all the wrong reasons.

He says that he is trying to reach a one-time settlement with the banks and adds, “Why am I being singled out as a willful defaulter when large borrowers who owe much more to the banks have not been so labeled?”

So, Mallya does not dispute the merit of the cases filed against him. He is concerned only at being singled out from among a vast group of financial criminals.

The Ambanis, Vijay Mallyas, Ramalinga Rajus and Sujana Chowdarys are destroying this nation. The day the government takes action against these people, faith in the system would be restored immensely.

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