Why Aren't Banks Taking Money, Vijay Mallya Asks PM Modi as Extradition Date Nears

New Delhi: Claiming that he has made a settlement offer before the High Court of Karnataka, fugitive economic offender Vijay Mallya on Thursday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi why wasn't he "instructing banks to take the money".

"I noticed that the Prime Minister, in his last speech in Parliament, referred to an unnamed person who 'ran away' with Rs 9,000 crore. Given the media narrative, I can only infer that reference is to me. I respectfully ask why the Prime Minister is not instructing his Banks to take the money I have put on the table so he can at least claim credit for full recovery of public funds lent to Kingfisher," he said.

Mallya left India on March 2, 2016 after defaulting on loan amounting to Rs 9,000 crore he had taken for his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

At a BJP rally in January, PM Modi had said, "Any person who has cheated or looted the country shall be brought to justice. This is regardless of whether he is in India or abroad." UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid had also recently approved the liquor baron's extradition order, clearing decks for his return to India.

"On 3 February the secretary of state, having carefully considered all relevant matters, signed the order for Vijay Mallya's extradition to India," UK home office said in a statement. "Mallya has 14 days from today (February 3) to apply for leave to appeal," it said.

Reacting to the developments, the liquor baron claimed that he had made a settlement offer before the High Court of Karnataka, "requesting the lenders to accept the offer".

"This cannot be dismissed as frivolous. It is a perfectly tangible, sincere, honest and readily achievable offer. The shoe is on the other foot now. Why don’t the banks take the money lent to KFA?" he asked.

Arun Jaitley, who is currently undergoing treatment in US, had earlier said that they were another step to get Mallya home.