CBI questions Vijay Mallya in Kingfisher Airlines loan default case

QUICK PILL

• Vijay Mallya was questioned by the CBI in connection with the alleged loan defaults of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

• State Bank of India (SBI) had declared industrialist Vijay Mallya a \'wilful defaulter\' for defaults on nearly Rs 7,000 crore loans on the long-grounded Kingfisher Airlines.

The chairman of the UB group, Vijay Mallya was questioned today by the CBI in connection with the alleged loan defaults of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines, as reported by PTI.

In October, the agency had registered a case against Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines, and A Raghunathan, the Chief Financial Officer of the airlines, besides officials of the IDBI Bank for the alleged default of over the Rs. 900 crore loan from the bank.

It is alleged that the loan was sanctioned in violation of the rules on credit limits.

The CBI also searched the home and offices of Mallya in Mumbai, Goa, Bangalore and other places.

Prior to this, State Bank of India (SBI) had declared industrialist Vijay Mallya a 'wilful defaulter' for defaults on nearly Rs 7,000 crore loans on the long-grounded Kingfisher Airlines.

"SBI has declared Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines and its holding company United Breweries Holdings as wilful defaulters," sources told PTI.

The sources said that after the Bombay High Court in August, allowed Mallya to be represented by his legal counsels, SBI moved the Supreme Court, challenging the HC order. According them, the HC order violated the RBI rules on grievance redressal committee that allow only the borrower to be present his case in person.

However, the Supreme Court had upheld the High Court verdict and asked SBI to reconsider this only as "a one-off instance" and allow Mallya's lawyers to represent him at the grievance redressal committee meeting which was held recently.