In Vijay Mallya’s tweet on CCD founder Siddhartha, a dig at govt agencies

Liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya on Wednesday tweeted about the similarities with the case of Café Coffee Day founder VG Siddhartha, whose body was found on Wednesday after he alleged harassment by an income tax officials.

Siddhartha, the son-in-law of BJP leader SM Krishna, was under the scanner of the income tax department and Enforcement Directorate for alleged irregularities in his association with information technology company Mindtree Ltd.

In the letter to directors of his company, Siddhartha said there was a lot of harassment from a senior income tax department official in the form of attaching “our shares on two separate occasions to block our Mindtree deal and then taking position of our Coffee Day shares, although revised returns have been filed by us”.

WATCH | Watch: When CCD Founder V.G. Siddhartha described his ambitions

The tax department has rebutted the businessman, listing some of the violations that had been detected by its officials that led to raids at premises linked to him and the subsequent attachment of his shares. The department said Siddhartha, in a sworn statement, “admitted” unaccounted income of ₹362.11 crore and ₹118.02 crore in his hands and that of Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd respectively.

“I am indirectly related to VG Siddhartha. Excellent human and brilliant entrepreneur. I am devastated with the contents of his letter. The Govt Agencies and Banks can drive anyone to despair. See what they are doing to me despite offer of full repayment. Vicious and unrelenting (sic),” Vijay Mallya tweeted. 

Mallya, who is currently in the UK, has been charged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of defaulting on bank loans to the tune of ₹9,000 crore. He is also facing an extradition trial in the United Kingdom.

Also read | CCD owner VG Siddhartha’s body found near Mangaluru river 2 days after he went missing

“In Western Countries, Government and Banks help borrowers repay their debts. In my case they are obstructing every possible effort for me to repay my debt whilst competing for my assets. As far as the prima facie criminal case goes wait for the appeal granted (sic),” Mallya said.

Siddhartha’s body was found from the banks of the Netravathi River in Karnataka’s Mangaluru on Wednesday, two days after he went missing, police said. The 60-year-old Siddhartha had gone missing on Monday evening from the road bridge between Ullal and Mangaluru over the river, his driver Basavaraj Patil had told the police.

Also read | ‘I have failed... sorry’, wrote CCD founder VG Siddhartha in letter to directors