New Delhi: Hours after resigning from the Rajya Sabha, beleaguered liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who is wanted by Indian banks for billions in unpaid loans, tweeted that he was ‘not a defaulter’ and that the media should ‘check facts’ before running any story.
"Agree Kingfisher Air owes money to Banks. I am neither a borrower or a judgement debtor. Why am I a defaulter inspite of a settlement offer?" Mallya tweeted.
“In all humility and not in defiance as they report, I would like Indian media to check and verify facts before calling me a defaulter,” his another tweet reads.
The liquor baron's resignation letter on Monday came just as the Ethics Committee of Rajya Sabha was preparing to expel him from Parliament.
Mallya, an Independent member from Karnataka, sent his resignation to Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari. He also sent a letter to Rajya Sabha Ethics Committee Chairman Karan Singh.
In a letter sent from London, Mallya said: "I don't want my name and reputation to be further dragged in the mud and since recent events suggest that I will not get a fair trial or justice, I am hereby resigning as a member of the Rajya Sabha with immediate effect."
The businessman, who owes over 9,000 crores in unpaid loans to his now grounded Kingfisher Airlines, last week made it clear that he has no plans to return home from the UK to face creditor banks. The 60-year-old businessman even described his status as ‘forced exile’ in an interview to a newspaper.
Mallya left for the Britian on March 2, triggering action by CBI and Enforcement Department. Last month the Government of India had revoked his passport and approached the British government through MEA seeking liquor baron’s extradition.
