Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya on Thursday said in a podcast that he is deeply sorry for what the employees of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines had to face after the airline closed its operations. Mallya was answering a question about Kingfisher Airlines employees who lost their jobs, weren’t paid and still hold angst against him.
“I would say I’m deeply sorry for what happened to them. I would say I’m deeply sorry that some of them didn’t get paid their salaries. I have no excuse to offer. I take full responsibility,” Mallya said in a podcast with YouTuber Raj Shamani.
During the podcast, he said that he sought permission from the court to pay the salaries of former Kingfisher employees.
“There was money lying in deposit with the Karnataka High Court. I specifically applied to the court to pay the salaries of Kingfisher Airlines staff,” the 69-year-old businessman said. He added: “The banks objected, and the court refused the permission.
There was really nothing I could do beyond that.” Besides, the founder of Kingfisher Airlines also decoded what led to the downfall of the now-defunct carrier.
Vijay Mallya is accused of defrauding Indian banks of approximately ₹9,000 crore or ~$1.2 billion primarily through loans granted to the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.
In February, the fugitive businessman informed that the ₹6,200 crore he owes to the banks has been recovered “multiple times over” and sought a detailed statement of accounts which show the amounts recovered from him, United Breweries Holdings Limited (UBHL), and other debtors. He left India in 2016 and has been residing in the UK since then.