Irritated Vijay Mallya took on media bosses on social network, twitter. In a series of tweet, he tweeted warning them “Let media bosses not forget help, favours, accommodation that I have provided over several years which are documented. Now lies to gain TRP?
“As an Indian MP I fully respect and will comply with the law of the land (Sic),” he tweeted. There were thousands of retweets, trollings and likes but the issue remains unsolved here. The question arises here, who is at the fault? Those who let go Mallya or the media who is dragging him in its trials?
Mallya, who is facing legal proceedings for alleged loan defaults by his group to the tune of over Rs. 9,000 crore, the media reports and BJP’s reply to court, was that he has left India. However, through social media he interacted with Indians and said he is not an absconder and he will comply with the law of the land. Even though, Mallya’s words appear to be harmonious, but it’s high time he should pay off his debts to banks and erstwhile Kingfisher employees. He should maintain the dignity of Upper House (Rajya Sabha) as its member. If he could successfully come out from this foreboding situation, he might gain faith of people.
Moreover, he has legal experts’ team with him for taking him out of any situation. He was ‘King of Good Times’ for many upper crust of the society. He has goodwill of others as he brought a lot of things back to India which belongs to us. He has just failed in business of Kingfisher Airlines but he is running other business successfully. United Spirits and United Breweries are tremendous doing superb business. Shareholders, who invested in these companies, are happy that Mallya helmed these and managed their transition to global beverage companies. We cannot blame him and hold only him responsible for the failure of Kingfisher Airlines’ business. This has to be debated in the court and let the court decide his liability in this case.
The key idea of forming a corporation is to protect personal assets and diversify risk among many investors. A clear bankruptcy law is needed to manage the equitable distribution of the remaining assets in a bankrupt business. Mallya owns 1.87% of Kingfisher Airlines. Banks and Indian Financial Institute own 31.68% of the company. Morally, he might be responsible for the messes, but it is the banks that have played the punter here. Public money has literally been thrown down in the gutter. All failures need fall guys and Mallya provides for the best mascot of this failure. If natural justice has to go its course, the decision makers in SBI, BoB, ICICI and IDBI banks must face trial along with Mallya and his core team. The larger institutional stakeholders must be asked to share blame for statutory non – compliances.
Meanwhile, he also sought to shift the blame to the media. Mallya also questioned news reports that ask, he must declare his assets. Too much wrong indulgence of media might shift the focus from main issues. It’s high time; media should publish the development related to the news and stop doing his trial. Mallya may have been the head of UB group and Kingfisher, but the banks and their corrupt managers those who approved loans to Kingfisher Airlines are more responsible for this fiasco. Airlines are a tremendously hard business to make money in, especially with super high fuel prices till 2013 and a very unpredictable policy regime under the UPA government. Further, one person cannot be singled out in a failed business – many people were involved in it. India lacks a clear bankruptcy procedure and it is time to bring that in.
However, if the government can insist on having Board representation in every corporate where there is more than 5% of capital infusion of public money, there may be some gain from this episode?
Mallya’s principal residence is London. Going back home is not absconding. He is a frequent flyer to India. Though, he possesses an Indian passport, he is a permanent resident of Britain. It is a financial matter. Due to the volatile markets that have caused businesses to experience lack of money flow, he may be finding some difficulty. He only has to convince the courts of his position. In fact, there are hundreds of companies in Britain that are not in a position to repay their debts to their lenders. Many small businesses in India are closing down due to the lack of money flow. Mallya has not reneged to pay his debt. Mallya has promised that he will come back to India to face his creditors. If he refuses to comply with the SC’s orders, then you can call him an absconder. Till then, we should wait and watch, what will happen further.
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