Vijay Mallya, Vittal Mallya's son, created and owned the airline group known as Kingfisher Airlines Limited, which was based in India. From 2003 through 2009, Vijay Mallya continued to compile the list of the 100 richest people. In the year 2003, he started Kingfisher Airlines, which began operating on May 9, 2005.
Although kingfisher airlines provided first-rate services to customers, they were not successful. The domestic market was losing money for the corporation. When Kingfisher Airlines began operating international flights in 2008, Vijay Mallya chose to purchase the international airline "Air Deccan," which resulted in him suffering significant losses.
MALLYA’S DOWNFALL
The decision was made by Kingfisher Airlines to seek out sizable loans from Indian banks. Five banks—SBI, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, United Bank of India, and United Commercial Bank—extended loans between April and November 2009. They approached the IDBI, a different bank, in late 2009. The business's debts had gotten so bad that it had to obtain new bank loans to pay off its previous obligations.
The largest share of the debts, totaling up to 9000 crores in 2010, belonged to SBI and IDBI. Even paying salaries to its employees was a refusal by King
fisher Airlines. The personnel began moving on to other organizations within a short period. Kingfisher Airlines was classified as a non-performing asset by SBI in 2012. Finally, Kingfisher Airlines was forced to cease operations in October 2012 when the DGCA revoked its pilot's license Kingfisher Airlines' share price dropped to zero.After thereafter, the burden of bank loans increased, and Vijay Mallya began taking the majority of his loans from PSU banks (Public Sector Banks). A massive 1600 crore loan was provided to Kingfisher Airlines by the State Bank of India alone. Vijay Mallya borr
owed money from 17 different banks, the majority of which were PSUs.
Banks finally applied for debt restructuring whereas the debt was converted into equity shares of 1400 crores loan by valuing shares of Kingfisher Airlines at Rupees 64.49/- which were trading at only Rupees 39.90/-, this was all possible due to good political connections as he was a Rajya Sabha member at that time. Later on, even IDBI bank provided around 800 crore loans to Kingfisher Airlines when it was already in huge losses.
In March 2016, when the loan became outstanding around 9000 crores along with interest, Vijay Mallya agreed to pay approximately 6000 crores which was the principal amount along with the condition that all the other loans should be waived. Banks did not agree to this condition and therefore, Vijay Mallya could not repay the loan and went to Britain. Now he is on the ‘Wanted List’ for wilful default.
Kingfisher Airlines had to pay around 9000 crores rupees along with interest to 17 different banks.
ROYAL COURT OF JUSTICE’S VERDICT
The Royal Court of Justice, London, rendered a judgment in the case involving Vijay Mallya, the Government of India, and the National Crime Agency. Vijay Mallya (hereafter the Appellant) filed an appeal in this matter challenging the Senior District Judge Arbuthnot's (SDJ) decision to refer the Appellant's case to the Secretary of State. The SDJ was sitting at Westminster Magistrates Court on December 10, 2018.
In this case, the Indian government argued that Vijay Mallya's different loans were obtained through a scheme to defraud, and it was also claimed that the appellant was involved in money laundering. As a result, the Indian government requested Vijay Mallya's extradition on these loans. Three allegations were put out against Vijay Mallya: Conspiracy to Defraud, making a false representation, and diversion and dispersal of the proceeds of lending.
CURRENT POSITION
The Indian Foreign Secretary, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, visited the United Kingdom and spoke with officials to strengthen ties between the two countries. He asserted that the Indian government has the "greatest assurance" possible that Vijay Mallya will be extradited. He said that the extradition procedure is now being worked on by British officials. The only thing left is the legal procedure, according to Gaitri Issar Kumar, the Indian High Commissioner, who indicated that extradition has already been resolved.
CONCLUSION
The UK court determined that there is enough evidence to support a case against Vijay Mallya prima facie long ago, but the continued delay simply serves to highlight the abuse of the legal system. Rules are designed to protect people and punish those who break them, but high-profile individuals also abuse these laws, frequently with ill-advised political commentary in tow. Years have passed, yet the Indian government is still attempting to extradite Mallya while he remains at large. This should serve as a benchmark and strict action must be taken so that perpetrators think twice before committing such acts. Delay would only lead to injustice and more degradation.