Fugitive Vijay Mallya has virtually reached a dead end in his legal battle in the UK to stay put in that country and avoid returning to India. But there still are the ifs and buts as to whether he would ultimately face the music vis-à-vis his banking liabilities and other criminal charges. Curiously, the last word on his extradition is not heard yet. Those linked to the UK government say there are fresh legal hurdles of a confidential nature and it would take time to resolve them.
The King of Good Times has been playing with the law both in India and abroad for a long time, virtually buying time and testing the patience of the investigating agencies like CBI and ED. Also, how serious is the Indian government about getting him extradited is a matter of conjecture. The issue, per se, is not about Vijay Mallya. Larger issues are involved in this case, and several other cases of Indian businessmen running away with huge loans taken from banks and parking them in tax havens abroad. These cases are hanging fire too. These men allegedly took advantage of the weak financial/banking systems in India, explored or exploited the loopholes, used their links to those in power, and escaped from the country with moneybags.
In the 2014 parliament elections, a promise made by Narendra Modi was that he would get back the money “looted” from India and kept in safe havens abroad, and put them into the accounts of poor Indians. Six years through his governance, hardly any breakthrough has been achieved in fixing the guilty or getting the money back even to the banks. Bank after bank, mostly public sector ones, are facing serious odds due to this and are courting steps like amalgamation.
It must be admitted that a government does not have all the powers with it to handle matters like this. The last word often lies with the judiciary, not with an elected government or elected leader. Hence with matters relating to loan defaulters, they often cite excuses and take legal recourse to first delay the payment and then altogether avoid repayment. The government is seen writing off millions and millions of NPAs, or bad debts.
Businessmen are adept at using their money power and engaging in influence-peddling to escape from the laws of the land. Courts can only function within the existing laws, and the final responsibility is with the government to find ways and means to effect a turnaround in the situation.