Vijay Mallya Is Ready to Talk to Indian Officials – but in London

Vijay Mallya is being chased because of an alleged debt of $1.4 billion after Kingfisher Airlines collapsed.

Vijay Mallya was recently seen cheering on his Force India team from the pit during the British Grand Prix. (Photo: IANS)

Vijay Mallya has accused Indian authorities of conducting a “witch-hunt” against him even as he invited them to come to London for interviewing him, claiming he has “nothing to hide”.

In an interview with Autosport published this week, Force India Formula 1 team principal Mallya said his presence in India is impossible because his diplomatic passport has been revoked.

They (the Indian authorities) have had access to many executives of Kingfisher Airlines, and they have had access to thousands of documents. If the missing link is only to interview me, come to London and interview me, get on the radio conference and interview me, send me an email with questions and I will reply. I have nothing to hide.

Vijay Mallya

“But it seems a bit contradictory and disconcerting that just because I’m not physically present in India, that they should issue an arrest warrant and cancel my passport. What confidence does that give me about their real intentions,” the 60-year-old asked.

The UB Group chairman, who is being chased in connection with an alleged debt of around $1.4 billion linked to the collapsed Kingfisher Airlines, has been based in the UK since March this year.

He was recently seen cheering on his Force India team from the pit during the British Grand Prix at the Silverstone track in Northamptonshire, in the East Midlands region of England.

My first brush with the investigative authorities was in 1985. They came at me hammer and tongs for almost two years and finally found nothing, and I was completely exonerated. So sadly in India, these investigative agencies are political tools that do not hesitate to go on a wild-goose chase, and in the process it is nothing but persecution. 

Vijay Mallya

(With inputs from PTI.)