New Delhi: Liquor Barron Vijay Mallya, who fled India last year owing Rs 9,000-crore to 13 banks, on Tuesday claimed he has enough evidence to plead his case as UK court granted him bail until December 4.
Former chief of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines appeared before Westminster Magistrates' Court for his extradition case hearing. Chief Magistrate Emma Louise Arbuthnot granted bail to Mallya until December 4. The next hearing has been scheduled for July 6.
"It was my lawful duty to be here. I am happy to be here," Mallya said, surrounded by a legion of Indian reporters.
However, the 62-year-old refused to answer any specific question put forth by the media. Furthermore, Mallya said he will make his submission before the appropriate court. "You can keep dreaming about a billion pounds; you cannot prove anything without facts." He also claimed that no loans were diverted anywhere.
"I have not eluded any court... I have enough evidence to prove my case," Mallya told reporters outside the court. "I don't make statements to the media because anything I say is twisted. There is enough evidence, that will speak," he said. "I go to cheer India in a cricket match and it becomes a media frenzy. It's better I don't say anything," he added.
Vijay Mallya was last seen enjoying the crucial ICC Champions Trophy encounter between India and South Africa at The Oval where was welcomed with the "chor, chor" chant.
Mallya responded to a question in this regard, saying two people, in a drunken state, called him a "thief" outside the stadium. "There were many who wished me well."
Earlier, he had caused a stir by his attendance of the India vs Pakistan match in Birmingham after which he had declared on Twitter that he would be attending all India matches in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy.
Mallya, who is wanted in India for Kingfisher Airlines' default on loans worth nearly Rs 9,000 crores, has been in the UK since March 2016 and was arrested by Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant on April 18.
India and the UK have an Extradition Treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was sent back to India last October to face trial in connection with his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002. However, unlike Mallya, he had submitted to the extradition order without legal challenge.
(With inputs from PTI)
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