Vijay Mallya says UK legal restrictions prevent his return to India, while questioning recovery figures and the government’s treatment of his case.
Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya has once again rejected allegations that he is deliberately avoiding India, saying his continued presence in the United Kingdom is because of the legal restrictions on his ability to leave the country. In a series of posts on X, Mallya also alleged that the Indian Government has treated him unfairly.
Mallya’s comments come amid continued efforts by Indian authorities to bring fugitives wanted in financial crime cases back to the country. In October 2025, MoS Finance Pankaj Chaudhary informed the Lok Sabha that 15 individuals had been declared Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEOs) under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018. Mallya and Nirav Modi were among the prominent names on the list.
Responding to criticism that he is refusing to return to India, Mallya said his circumstances were being misrepresented. He pointed to his long-term residency in the UK and claimed that legal restrictions currently prevent him from travelling out of the country.
“For all who say I am a bhagoda refusing to come to India, please be aware that I have been a permanent resident of the United Kingdom since 1992 and am currently legally prohibited from leaving this country. All this started with poster boy actions by the Government of India who have been grossly unjust in my case,” he said in the post on X.
For all who say I am a bhagoda refusing to come to India, please be aware that I have been a permanent resident of the United Kingdom since 1992 and am currently legally prohibited from leaving this country. All this started with poster boy actions by the Government of India who…
— Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) September 8, 2026
MEA Says Government Remains Committed To Bringing Fugitives Back
The Indian government, meanwhile, has maintained that it wants fugitives wanted under Indian law to return and face proceedings before Indian courts.
In December last year, the Ministry of External Affairs said the process of bringing such individuals back involves multiple legal and diplomatic steps. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said, “We remain fully committed that people who are fugitives and wanted by law in India, return to the country. For this particular return, we are in talks with several governments and processes are on… There are several layers of legalities involved but we remain committed to bring them back to the country so they can face trial before the courts here.”
Mallya Questions Recovery Figures Cited By ED
Mallya has also repeatedly raised questions about the money recovered from his assets and the treatment of those recoveries. In an earlier post, he referred to an affidavit that he claimed had been filed by the Enforcement Directorate before the Bombay High Court.
“Affidavit filed by the ED in the Hon’ble Bombay High Court. Para 7 is the decreed debt and Para 17 shows recovered Rs 14,131.60 crore in 2021 !! 5 years on I am still referred to as a fraud who cheated the Banks,” he said.
He subsequently shared a table that he described as a statement of account and questioned why he continues to be portrayed as a fugitive and fraudster.
“To all who believe in fair and proper accounting justice please see the following table. Do I still deserve the way I am berated by the media and referred to as a fraudster at the very outset of a journalist’s script ? Why not start asking when I will get my refund,” he said.
Mallya further claimed that funds attached by the ED had been used to make payments to former Kingfisher Airlines employees.
“For all you naysayers, please independently verify and see that the ED released over Rs 350 crores to pay Kingfisher employees from my attached funds. I could not pay because ED attached my assets/funds,” he added.
