London: Embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya once again used social media to reiterate his offer to pay back the debt owed to public sector banks in India, targeting this time the State Bank of India (SBI) for allegedly wasting Indian taxpayers’ money on expensive legal fees in the UK. Days after a UK High Court judge refused to dismiss an interim order freezing nearly 260,000 pounds in one of his London bank accounts, the 63-year-old issued a string of statements on Twitter to allege that the SBI led consortium of PSU banks were wrongly going after him in the UK courts.
“SBI Lawyers in UK making presentations on their accomplishments against me. Indian Tax payers cost. Despite full recovery in India confirmed by the Prime Minister himself,” he tweeted on Friday. His statements were illustrated with a series of document screenshots showing TLT LLP, the banks’ law firm, hailing its victory in the 1.142 billion pounds worldwide freezing order judgment in their favour last May.
“SBI UK Lawyers in self-promotion at Indian public cost. SBI must answer,” reads Mallya’s tweet. He noted: “Whilst media love sensational headlines, why doesn’t anybody ask the PSU State Bank of India under RTI [Right to Information] on how much they are spending on legal fees trying to recover money from me in the UK when I have offered 100 per cent payback in India.