Will the Narendra Modi-led govt bring Mallya back to India before 2019 Lok Sabha elections?

Loan recovery from Vijay Mallya, the poster boy for bank defaults, may seem to have got further complicated as it took more political turns this week.

The 62-year-old liquor baron’s claims of meeting Finance Minister Arun Jaitley before he left India two years ago has stirred a hornet’s nest.

Mallya said he met Jaitley before leaving India for a scheduled meeting in Geneva. “I met the finance minister before I left, repeated my offer to settle with the banks... that's the truth," he told reporters outside the London's Westminster Magistrates' Court. He said he had also told the minister that he was leaving for London.

This comes at a time when it looked like Mallya, who fled to London in March 2016 while facing legal proceedings for loan defaults, would likely return to India giving up on his defiance.

Reports have also suggested that in February 2016, banks were advised to move the Supreme Court to stop Mallya from fleeing the country but the lenders took action four days after the defaulting businessman had left the country.

While Jaitley has denied giving any meeting appointment to Mallya calling his statement as “factually false", lead lender to the now-grounded airline, State Bank of India (SBI), has assured that actions are being taken for loan recovery.

“SBI denies that there has been any laxity on its part or its officials in dealing with loan default cases, including Kingfisher Airlines. Bank has been taking proactive and strong measures to recover the defaulted amounts," it said in a statement.

The developments come nearly eight months before the national elections due next year. The Opposition has already attacked the BJP-led government for allowing the likes of Mallya, including another absconder and diamond trader Nirav Modi, who is at the centre of the Rs 14,357 crore-scam unearthed at Punjab National Bank in February this year.

Promoter of the debt-ridden Kingfisher Airline, Mallya has defaulted on loans and other dues totalling about Rs 9,000 crore (as on March 2016) to 17 lender- consortium led by SBI and other institutions.

Mallya is also fighting an extradition case on charges of fraud and money laundering in a UK court, which is expected to review a video of the Mumbai jail prison prepared by the Indian authorities.

Also read: Where will Vijay Mallya be lodged when he is brought back to India?

In recent times, Mallya has been sending feelers indicating his willingness to face the law and return to India by settling his dues with banks.

The Parliament has also passed the Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEO) Bill, 2018, in the Monsoon Session to punish bank defaulters like Mallya and Nirav Modi.

While they still remain out of India, by pushing this burning issue and making an example out of them, can the Narendra Modi-led government claim a symbolic victory over bad loans as the election season kickstarts?