CBI to file multiple charge sheets against Mallya

CBI is planning to file multiple charge sheets against former liquor baron Vijay Mallaya as it has brought under its one FIR the cases of his alleged loan default, of now defunct Kingfisher Airlines, with various banks of over Rs 9,000 crore.

CBI sources said the agency has registered the case of alleged loan default of Mallya with IDBI Bank which was about Rs 900 crore on the basis of source information cultivated by the agency as no affected bank had filed any complaint with it.

They said any investigation agency is capable of filing such a case but it involves much more work in terms of collecting evidence which could have been made easy if any of the affected bank had filed an FIR against Mallya.

The sources said till now no bank has filed any complaint against him prompting the agency to expand the ambit of its probe from IDBI Bank to all the banks which were exposed by the alleged loan default of Mallya.

"We have one FIR based on source information. We have brought under it exposure of all the public sector banks who have given loan to Mallya. Now we will file separate charge sheets against him," an official said.

The banks affected by alleged loan default include State Bank of India, which has the biggest exposure to Kingfisher Airlines at Rs 1,600 crore besides Axis Bank Ltd, Bank of Baroda, Corporation Bank, Federal Bank Ltd, IDBI Bank Ltd, Indian Overseas Bank, Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd, Punjab and Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Mysore, UCO Bank and United Bank of India.

Mallya is in negotiations with banks to settle his debts.

Mallya has defended his position of not being personally liable for repayment of over Rs 9,000 crore loan to now defunct Kingfisher Airlines saying he had given personal guarantee for the loans "under coercion".

The former busines tycoon, who flew to London on March 2 just days before a consortium of lenders knocked on doors of the Supreme Court to recover Rs 9,431.65 crore of loan and interest, in his deposition to the Rajya Sabha Committee on Ethics said he had approached the Bombay High Court for declaring his personal guarantee for KFA loan void way back in 2013.