New Delhi: Considering Vijay Mallya’s four-decade-long track record of timely debt servicing, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that it is not fair to call an one-time loan defaulter a thief.
Speaking at an economic summit organised by the Times Group, the Union Minister said, “Mallya was regularly paying interest on loans for forty years. After forty years when he entered aviation sector he started facing problems, and all of a sudden he becomes a thief? If someone repays the interest on loans taken for fifty years, and turns a defaulter once, then suddenly everything is fraud? This mentality is not right.”
“There are risks in the business, be it banking or insurance. There are ups and downs. But, if the mistakes are bona fide, because of global or internal factors in the economy like a recession, then that person who is facing difficulties must be given support,” added the minister.
“If Nirav Modi or Vijay Mallya have committed fraud then send them to jail, but calling them names is incorrect. This will not help our economy, ” said Gadkari.
A London court had ordered Mallya’s extradition earlier this week, and ahead of the extradition hearing Vijay Mallya offered to repay the entire principal amount to banks.
