Government disputes Vijay Mallya claims on loan repayment and outstanding dues

NEW DELHI: Govt and banks have called out Vijay Mallya’s claims of being harassed by lenders despite having cleared their outstanding debts, arguing that the bankrupt businessman still owes a large amount of money to creditors.When the case was filed in the debt recovery tribunal in June 2013, the consolidated non-performing (NPA) outstanding of Kingfisher Airlines was pegged at Rs 6,848 crore, which included non-cumulative redeemable preference shares. Including the accrued interest and other charges of Rs 10,933 crore, according to the DRT decree, the total liability due to the creditors added up to Rs 17,781 crore as of April 10. Against this, banks have recovered Rs 10,815 crore, leaving them with a gap of Rs 6,997 crore, which is yet to be recovered, govt sources said.

Mallya claimed that he paid Rs 14,000 crore to banks against loans of Rs 6,200 crore.Any loan comes with interest until the amount is fully paid. In the case of loan defaulters, such as Mallya, there is also a penal interest. The flamboyant businessman, known to live life king-size, seems to have based his claims on clearing the principal, and not the outstanding. The fugitive, who is seeking to block his return to India to face legal action, made similar claims in the past.

With Mallya fleeing the country, banks stepped up efforts to recover their dues and were permitted by PMLA courts to sell the property that was attached by enforcement agencies on execution of a bond with the condition that in case of acquittal of the borrowers, the lenders would return the assets. Banks have sold a majority of the properties, including the famous Kingfisher Villa in Goa, and recovered Rs 10,815 crore.

Sources said that the recovery process is in line with the board-approved policies of banks."The norms are uniform irrespective of who the borrower is or from which part of the country or community he or she comes from. So, any allegation or claim made by Vijay Mallya regarding recoveries under any undue influence or under media pressure or due to an inherent bias against him is misconstrued and completely baseless," said a source.The loans to Kingfisher, which were restructured by some of the lenders, are also under the scanner with senior executives such as former IDBI Bank chief Yogesh Agarwal also arrested by CBI for alleged irregularities.