Wilful defaulter tag: Angry Mallya says United Bank is making him a bakra'

September 2, 2014

Wilful defaulter
New Delhi, Sep 2: State-run United Bank of India (UBI) on Monday declared the defunct Kingfisher Airlines, its promoter Vijaya Mallya and its three directors as wilful defaulters after they did not turn up for a meeting with its grievances redressal panel, an official said.

"We have declared Kingfisher Airlines, its chairman (Mallya) and three directors on its board as wilful defaulters as per the RBI circular pertaining to loan advanced to the airline," said a senior official of the bank's recovery cell.

The three directors are AK Ganguly, Subhash R. Gupte and Ravi Nedungadi.

The bank had advanced about Rs 400 crore to the airline in 2006-07 from its Bangalore branch towards working capital and operational expenses.

"The airline is also liable to pay compounding interest on the principal amount of Rs 400 crore we have advanced to it," the official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to brief media.

As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circular, a defaulting company or person will not be allowed to borrow money from any bank and will cease to hold any official post in the company.

Ganguly and Nedungadi are also directors on the board of United Breweries (UB) Ltd. in Bangalore.

The bank's recovery cell summoned Mallya and the directors after a division bench of the Calcutta High Court Aug 28 dismissed the airline's petition to send a legal representation and exempt them from appearing before the redressal panel.

The bank also filed a caveat in the Supreme Court Aug 29 against the airline after the high court ruling last week.

In a belated response, the beleaguered airline said the bank had post-haste proceeded to declare it and its directors as willful defaulters "in respect of an overdraft facility of Rs.7.5 crore" even before a copy of the high court order was made available to the parties and before its special leave petition was listed in the apex court.

"We intend to pursue all available legal remedies, including the SLP filed in the Supreme Court Aug 29 against the high court order," the airline said in a statement from Mumbai late Monday.

According to a report in Economic Times, Mallya hit back at the lender saying the bank had declared him a willful defaulter "without a hearing".

Mallya told ET that UBI had not given him an opportunity to hear his request for legal representation. "Let them prove in court that I am a willful defaulter," he added.

Another report in Times of India quotes Mallya as saying, "They are making me a bakra (fall guy) because they want to set an example for other defaulters."

Observing that being declared a willful defaulter would have serious consequences, including penal, the airline said the bank had deprived it an opportunity to be represented by a trained legal practitioner, resulting in violation of the principles of natural justice.

"The Calcutta High Court failed to consider the most relevant fact that the Delhi High Court ruled Aug 28 in a case we filed against Punjab National Bank (PNB) involving similar facts and circumstances and held that the courts have always leaned towards allowing representation through legal practitioners to obviate any handicap that the person may feel in representing his case," the airline said.

Noting that its prayer to be represented by an advocate in the petition against PNB was allowed by the Delhi High Court through an order, a copy of which was made available to it only Monday, the airline quoted further from the order in support of its stand.

"In cases where adverse decision would have serious civil and pecuniary consequences, denial of representation through a legal practitioner may in given facts be violative of natural justice. Indisputably, the consequences of holding the petitioner as a wilful defaulter would be serious for the petitioner and the petitioner ought to be afforded adequate opportunity to present its perspective on the issue," the order had said.

The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had suspended the airline's permit in October 2012 on safety concerns and indefinite strike by its employees.

The grounded airline reported a net loss of Rs.4,301 crore for 2012-13.

With an accumulated losses of Rs.16,023 crore and a negative net worth of Rs.12,919 crore, the airline has an exposure of Rs.8,000 crore in the form of debts from a consortium of 14 banks, aircraft leasing firms, airport operators, state-run oil marketing firms and other vendors.

Also Read: Vijay Mallya declared 'wilful defaulter' by United Bank of India

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May 17,2024

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Hubballi, May 17: Karnataka Police have arrested the killer, Vishwa, also known as Girish, in the sensational Anjali Ambigera murder case, police said on Friday.

Preliminary investigations reveal that Vishwa was a habitual thief who exploited innocent young women. The accused is also a drunkard and was caught while attempting to commit theft. He was also part of a gang which stole bikes.

The accused targeted gullible young women, enacting a drama of love and playing the emotional card to forcefully extort gold, silver, and cash from them. When Anjali did not agree to any of his attempts to rob her and outrightly rejected his offer to go with him to Mysuru city, he brutally killed her.

The police had formed two teams to hunt down the killer. One of the teams was searching in the south Karnataka region, and another team, which launched a hunt in Davanagere, nabbed him. The accused was arrested by the police on Thursday.

The police could not catch him sooner as the killer did not carry a mobile phone and did not use his phone for 15 days, before murdering Anjali. The jurisdictional Bendigeri Police were aware of the killer's history, but even after the complaint by the girl’s family, they showed "utter negligence".

The 24-year-old Vishwa entered Anjali Ambigera's (20) residence at 5.30 A.M. on Wednesday and stabbed the young woman multiple times before she could react. Vishwa dragged Anjali Ambigera all over the house, kicking and stabbing her. Later, he pushed her into the kitchen where he stabbed her repeatedly.

Despite efforts by Anjali’s grandmother and two sisters to stop the attacker, he killed her and managed to flee. The incident occurred in the Veerapura Oni area within the jurisdiction of the Bendigeri Police Station.

Vishwa had been blackmailing Anjali and pressurising her to accompany him to Mysuru without informing her parents. The incident which took place close on the heels of MCA student Neha Hiremath’s brutal murder by the jilted lover has raised concern over the safety of women all across the state.

The BJP had demanded the resignation of Home Minister G. Parameshwara while the Congress leaders have also demanded that the Hubballi-Dharwad Police Commissioner Renuka Sukumar should be transferred for failing to sensitise the police force regarding issues of women’s safety.

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News Network
May 4,2024

Mangaluru, May 4: The Mangaluru International Airport was besieged with a harrowing message of terror recently, when an email, purportedly from malevolent elements, menacingly declared the planting of bombs within the airport premises. 

Addressed to the office of the airport authority, the missive, steeped in ominous overtones, bore the ominous signature of a terrorist faction, ominously named 'Terrorizers 111'.

The communication, disseminated in English, ominously detailed the clandestine emplacement of explosives in areas eluding facile detection, accompanied by a chilling warning of their imminent detonation. The threat, ominously looming over not only the infrastructure but also the airborne vessels, portended a catastrophic deluge of bloodshed and loss.

In response to this dire communiqué, airport authorities swiftly engaged the apparatus of law enforcement, dispatching urgent alerts to the vigilant guardians of public safety. Acting upon the dictates of higher echelons, a formal dossier of this menacing correspondence was meticulously compiled, cloaked in the veil of confidentiality to thwart any premature dissemination.

Mangaluru International Airport found itself in grim camaraderie with more than 30 counterparts under the aegis of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and private domains, all recipients of this chilling electronic diatribe. A comprehensive net of precautionary measures was swiftly cast, fortifying the bastions of security in anticipation of any nefarious designs lurking within the shadows.

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May 5,2024

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Bengaluru, May 5: In a major development, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the sex video scandal involving JD-S MP Prajwal Revann on Saturday arrested his father and JD-S MLA H.D. Revanna following the rejection of his anticipatory bail plea in a victim kidnapping case by the People’s Representative Court in Bengaluru.

H.D. Revanna was taken into custody from the residence of his father and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda in Bengaluru’s Padmanabhanagar locality.

First, he was taken to the SIT office on the premises of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). After preliminary questioning, the former JD-S minister was taken to the Bowring Hospital for a medical check-up.

Sources said he will be produced before the magistrate at the latter's residence later.

Commenting on the development, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told mediapersons that he won’t interfere in the matter.

“Action should be initiated as per the law,” he said.

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said, “We will not interfere in anything related to this matter. Let them get protection from the court under the law."

Shivakumar also said that let the proceedings follow the manner suggested by former CM H.D. Kumaraswamy.

Quoting a Kannada proverb, Kumaraswamy had said that those who commit crime must be punished.

The SIT officers reached the former PM’s residence soon after the court turned down his anticipatory bail plea in a case related to the kidnapping of a woman who was allegedly sexually assaulted by his son Prajwal Revanna, the sources said.

Earlier on Saturday, the SIT traced the kidnapped woman to the farmhouse of Rajashekar, the personal assistant (PA) to H.D. Revanna, at Kalenahalli village in Mysuru district.

In the court, Special Public Prosecutor B.N. Jagadish submitted that the case is about saving the life of a poor woman.

Jagadish argued that H.D. Revanna did not turn up before the authorities even after being served three notices.

Senior counsel Muthy D. Naik, appearing for H.D. Revanna, argued that the only allegation against his client is a statement that he had called the victim to his residence.

Barring this, there is nothing to prove the role of H.D. Revanna in this case, he argued, adding that the statement was made by an accused in the case, with whom his client has no connections.

He also claimed that the SIT has deliberately added IPC Section 364A, which attracts life imprisonment and capital punishment, to ensure that his client’s bail plea is rejected.

The other IPC Sections invoked in the case — 363 and 365 — attract imprisonment of less than seven years. Therefore, to prove the innocence of H.D. Revanna, he should be granted bail, Naik submitted.

Meanwhile, the woman, who had gone missing on April 29, was found locked up in the farmhouse when the SIT officers reached there following a tip-off.

Sources said Rajashekar is absconding ever since the SIT traced the missing woman to his farmhouse.

The woman is being brought to Bengaluru where her statement will be recorded.

On Friday, Karnataka Police registered an FIR against H.D. Revanna in connection with the kidnapping of the woman, believed to be one of the victims of the sex video scandal involving his son Prajwal Revanna.

The woman’s son had registered a kidnap case naming H.D. Revanna as the prime accused in the case.

His relative Satish Babu was named as the second accused in the FIR, whom the police arrested from Mysuru district on Friday.

The woman’s son alleged that his mother went missing after the surfacing of a purported sex video in which Prajwal Revanna could be seen sexually assaulting her.

He also alleged that his mother was locked up in an undisclosed location, as he pleaded with the police to initiate legal action against H.D. Revanna and Satish Babu.

Prajwal Revanna, the sitting JD-S MP from Hassan, has reportedly fled from the country.

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