Beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya on Friday ridiculed the Central Bureau of Investigation for losing the Aircel-Maxis case against the Maran brothers. “The CBI made such a great drama accusing the Marans and putting them to great harm. What finally happened? Did truth prevail or CBI prevail?” he said on Twitter.
He also compared the allegations against him to a football match between the administrations of the ruling National Democratic Alliance and the United Progressive Alliance. “The media is happily being used as the pitch. I am the football. Two fiercely competitive teams NDA versus UPA playing. Unfortunately there are no referees,” Mallya said.
The businessman also accused the CBI of “selectively releasing emails to the media”, which he claimed were “being taken out of context and distorted to make allegations” against him and the Congress-led UPA regime. “All false and misconceived [allegations] to say the least. What do a bunch of elite police know about business and economics?”
A special CBI court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Mallya on Tuesday after the investigative agency moved a plea to extradite him from the United Kingdom. The CBI is expected to approach the External Affairs Ministry as part of its latest bid to have the businessman tried in an Indian court of law.
In November 2016, Mallya was declared absconder by a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act court. India had asked the UK, where Mallya has been residing since March 2, 2016, to extradite the industrialist under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty as he is owes around Rs 9,000 crore to 17 banks in India.
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