Liquor king Vijay Mallya charged with money laundering

Even as liquor king Vijay Mallya was planning to get out of his huge debts of Rs 7000 crore owed to State Bank of India by accepting Rs 515 crore Sweetheart Deal with a London-based company, the Enforcement Directorate slapped a case of money-laundering on Mallya, spoiling his party. The ED was expected to question him shortly. The ED had slapped the case on Mallya to ensure the 'king of good times' does not escape to friendly countries. Lalit Modi, former commissioner of Indian Premier League (IPL), had similarly escaped to friendly countries evading taxes. Modi landed himself in the UK and is enjoying his stay there with the alleged connivance of some leading Indian lawyers. A series of red-corner notices have been issued for his deportation. In Mallya's case, the ED sleuths are in the process of short-listing his properties in India and abroad. Apart from the ED, the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) was expected to pass orders on the SBI plea seeking lenders’ first right on the $75 million payout from Diageo to Mallya under their “sweetheart deal” in exchange for Mallya's liquor business. The SBI, faced with mounting defaulters, had filed three applications, including one seeking Mallya’s arrest and impounding of his passport, apart from the pie of Sweetheart Deal. The DRT is first going to settle the Sweetheart Deal. The SBI leads a consortium of 17 banks that lent money to the closed Kingfisher Airlines. The public sector SBI would do well to publish the names of its defaulters since it had to recover over Rs.7,000 crore from Vijay Mallya, which is public money. The public would know the names of other SBI defaulters before they go away with sweetheart deals.