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Former liquor baron Vijay Mallya, addressing shareholders at the UB Holdings annual general meeting on Thursday, blamed everybody but himself for the failure of Kingfisher Airlines, and claimed that the government had turned him into the poster boy for bad loans and financial crime.
In a pre-recorded message to shareholders, Mallya said that the series of actions initiated by several departments of the government is unprecedented in Indian corporate history.
“What started as a genuine business failure of Kingfisher Airlines, which used to be hailed as the queen of Indian skies, has now turned out to be a nightmare despite the fact that the business failed due to high fuel prices, adverse government policies like taxation, and of course one of the engine types,” he told the shareholders at the 100th AGM.
A belligerent Mallya said he is being accused of stealing or siphoning out ₹6,000 crore from Kingfisher Airlines without any legal basis.
“As part of its concerted efforts to make me a poster boy of bad loans and financial crime, the government continues to attach properties and threatens other forms of action, all of which I assure you will be contested in courts.”
“We can account for every single paise of all borrowings by Kingfisher and the expenditure incurred by the airline,” Mallya said.
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