78% say action against Mallya and Sahara will help Modi govt politically

Respondents answered in a poll done by Business Standard on social media

Two key developments have taken place in quick succession this week. In a blow to the Sahara group, the Supreme Court on Monday ordered auction of its prime Aamby Valley township near Lonavala in Pune to recover the dues owed by the Sahara Group to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The dues estimate to be over Rs 47,000 crore, including interest. Of this amount, the group has so far paid back Rs 11,477 crore. A top court bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra also directed Roy to appear in court on April 27.

A day later, embattled businessman and loan defaulter Vijay Mallya was arrested by Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant by India. However, he was released on bail few hours after the arrest. London police arrested Mallya and produced him before a local court, which granted him conditional bail.

Mallya allegedly owes over Rs 9,000 crore to banks in India and has been staying away from India for the last 13 months. In January this year, a CBI court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Mallya in the Rs 720-crore IDBI Bank loan default case. Earlier that month, the Debt Recovery Tribunal in Bengaluru had passed orders in favour of a SBI-led consrotium of banks to recover over Rs 9,000 loans from the Kingfisher Airlines.

This development may mark an initial success for the Narendra Modi government, which has also been strongly pushing for Mallya’s extradition to India.  

Modi government is likely to make significant political gains from the action of the Supreme Court against the Sahara chief and by the extradition process against Mallya.

Business Standard conducted a social media poll on Twitter. 379 people voted in the poll.

The poll question was " Will Modi govt reap political gains from action against Mallya, Subrata Roy?" 379 people responded to the poll. 78 per cent voted for 'Yes' while 22 per cent voted for 'No'. Check the poll here: