Shower abuse on me but not on my son: Vijay Mallya

NEW DELHI: Beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya, who left India earlier this month amid continuing efforts by banks to recover dues totalling over Rs 9,000 crore of unpaid loans, has come out in defence of his son, saying that Siddharth must not be targeted or be dragged into any controversy as he had absolutely no connection with his father's 'business'.

"My son Sid does not deserve all this hatred and abuse. He has had nothing to do with my business. Shower abuse on me if you must but not him. Slam me if you must but not a young man," Mallya said in a series of tweets.

Mallya, promoter of long-grounded Kingfisher Airlines, had left India on March 2, presumably for London, days before the Supreme Court heard a plea of clutch of state-owned banks seeking recovery from his group firms.

Mallya and Kingfisher Airlines owed Rs 7,800 crore to a consortium of 17 lenders led by State Bank, which had an exposure of over Rs 1,600 crore to the now defunct airline.

Other banks that have exposure to the airline include Punjab National Bank and IDBI Bank (Rs 800 crore each), Bank of India (Rs 650 crore), Bank of Baroda (Rs 550 crore), Central Bank of India (Rs 410 crore).

UCO Bank has to recover Rs 320 crore, Corporation Bank (Rs 310 crore), State Bank of Mysore, (Rs 150 crore), Indian Overseas Bank (Rs 140 crore), Federal Bank (Rs 90 crore), Punjab & Sind Bank (Rs 60 crore) and Axis Bank (Rs 50 crore).

My son Sid does not deserve all this hatred and abuse. He has had nothing to do with my business. Shower abuse on me if you must but not him

— Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) March 29, 2016

My son Sid @sidmallya does not deserve all this abuse as he had nothing to do with my business. Slam me if you must but not a young man.

— Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) March 29, 2016

Mallya has also been summoned by Enforcement Directorate (ED) to make a personal appearance before its investigating officer in Mumbai on April 2 in connection with its money laundering probe in the over Rs 900 crore IDBI loan fraud case. He has sought more time from the agency to present himself on a later date instead of the scheduled time of March 18.