Vijay Mallya Reacts To Sandesara Family's $570 Million OTS - Why And What Did He Say?

New Delhi: Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, who is wanted in India for defrauding banks of Rs 9,000 crore, questioned the treatment given to other economic offenders after the Supreme Court agreed to drop

criminal charges against another fugitive billionaires -- Nitin and Chetan Sandesara.The Sandesara brothers, who ran businesses in the pharmaceuticals and energy industries, fled India in 2017 after they were accused of defrauding banks on loans worth $1.6 billion. However, they denied this allegation.As the Supreme Court published the order in Sandesara brothers' case on its website, a journalist questioned, “Unbelievable. These guys have loads of oil money and are thriving in Nigeria. Yet India’s top court agrees to a $570 million settlement by the Sandesara family? Why is @TheVijayMallya treated differently? They will pay only one-third? Profitable to default in India — so long as you have money for legal fees.”Reacting to the journalist's post, Vijay Mallya commented, "Fair question, thank you."According to the Supreme Court order, their lawyer Mukul Rohatgi told the court that the fugitives were willing to pay $570 million to settle all the legal proceedings in this matter.This amount, proposed by the Sandesara brothers, is almost one-third of their total dues in the $1.6 billion bank fraud.The Supreme Court order quoted Rohatgi as saying that his clients had agreed to pay $570 million with a December 17 deadline. He further told the court that his clients wanted to settle to get “rid of all the proceedings.”The Sandesara brothers, whose business empire once spanned from pharmaceuticals to energy, fled India using Albanian passports and are currently based in Nigeria.In Nigeria, they reportedly own Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production.

Where is Vijay Mallya?

The fugitive Vijay Mallya, who escaped India in 2016, has been living in United Kingdom. He is accused of defrauding Indian banks to Rs 9,000 crores that were given to his now-defunct Kingfisher airlines and faces extradition proceedings.