London: Embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya took to social media on Monday to lament the collapse of Jet Airways and repeated his offer of a “100 per cent payback” for state-owned Indian banks to cover his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines’ debt. The 63-year-old former Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) boss is currently appealing against his extradition order from the UK to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to an alleged Rs 9,000 crores.
Mallya drew parallels between the plight of his collapsed airline and that of Jet Airways, India’s leading private airline which grounded to a halt earlier this month amid a mounting cash crunch. “Several Indian airlines collapsed sadly including KFA. Now the previously unthinkable has happened with the collapse of Jet,” Mallya said on Twitter.
“Genuine business failures. But I am criminally charged by CBI/ED despite offering 100% payback. Wonder why only me,” he questioned. His latest Twitter statements echo some of his previous social media interventions on the issue, claiming that his offer to pay back the debt owed by his now-defunct airline had been rebuffed by the banks and the Indian government.