'Banks objected, court refused the permission': Vijay Mallya on why Kingfisher Airlines couldn't get their salaries

Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya on Thursday said in a podcast that he is deeply sorry for what the employees of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines had to face after the airline closed its operations. Mallya was answering a question about Kingfisher Airlines employees who lost their jobs, weren't paid and still hold angst against him. 

"I would say I'm deeply sorry for what happened to them. I would say I'm deeply sorry that some of them didn't get paid their salaries. I have no excuse to offer. I take full responsibility," Mallya said in a podcast with YouTuber Raj Shamani. 

During the podcast, he said that he sought permission from the court to pay the salaries of former Kingfisher employees.

"There was money lying in deposit with the Karnataka High Court. I specifically applied to the court to pay the salaries of Kingfisher Airlines staff," the 69-year-old businessman said. He added: "The banks objected, and the court refused the permission.

There was really nothing I could do beyond that." Besides, the founder of Kingfisher Airlines also decoded what led to the downfall of the now-defunct carrier. 

He said that the airline could not perform as well after 2008 due to the Lehmann Brothers collapse and the resultant global financial crisis. Mallya further mentioned that he met the then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee with a set of steps that Kingfisher Airlines needed to take to stay afloat. 

"I went to Shri Pranab Mukherjee, the then Finance Minister, and said I have a problem. Kingfisher Airlines needs to downsize, cut the number of aircraft, and lay off employees, as I can't afford to operate under these depressed economic circumstances." 

He said that Mukherjee reportedly told him not to downsize and that the banks would continue to support the airline's operations.

"King Fisher Airlines has been forced to suspend all of its flights. King Fisher Airlines has been struggling. At the time when you asked loan, the company was not doing that great,” the fugitive businessman said. 

Vijay Mallya is accused of defrauding Indian banks of approximately ₹9,000 crore or ~$1.2 billion primarily through loans granted to the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines. 

In February, the fugitive businessman informed that the ₹6,200 crore he owes to the banks has been recovered "multiple times over" and sought a detailed statement of accounts which show the amounts recovered from him, United Breweries Holdings Limited (UBHL), and other debtors. He left India in 2016 and has been residing in the UK since then.