Sunday Guardian publishes emails in which Vijay Mallya says 'not right time to return'

The emails also show that Mallya refused to reveal his whereabouts

The Sunday Guardian newspaper on Tuesday published the email trail of its interview with Vijay Mallya on Tuesday, a day after the liquor baron denied giving any such interview. 
 

Mallya, 60, is facing multiple cases for allegedly defaulting on debt of over Rs 9,000 crore to various banks. His departure from India on March 2, as banks started to tighten the screws, has also triggered a political row.

Despite Mallya's claim that he gave no such interview – in which Mallya allegedly said that he wanted to return to India but did not feel that the time was "right" – the newspaper has stood its ground.

According to the email excerpts, while responding to a question about whether he planned to return to India and if so then when, Mallya writes: “I am an Indian to the core. Of course I want to return. But I am not sure I’ll get a fair chance to present my side. I’ve already been branded as the criminal. I do not feel the time is right. I feel passions are high. People need to think rationally. They need to understand that business, whether large or small, has risks involved. I’ve seen the highest to the lowest points in this matter. But I hope that I return one day. India has given me everything. It has made me Vijay Mallya.”

The newspaper claims that the interview was given to it on March 12, 2016. Mallya, the Sunday Guardian claims, personally responded to an email questionnaire from his encrypted email id "vjmallya@protonmail.com". The newspaper also claims that the veracity of the id was confirmed by Mallya's legal counsel's office on March 8. "For reasons that are not clear, Mr Mallya has sought to distance himself from the interview. We, however, stand by our report," said the newspaper.

Mallya took to Twitter to deny that he had ever given such an interview. "Shocked to see media statements that I gave an interview to Sunday Guardian without verification. I have not given any statement to anyone," the flashy liquor baron tweeted on March 14.

In a series of tweets on March 15, Mallya claimed that he did not know about any service called protonmail to begin with. He also called the Sunday Guardian's claim a "total fake".

The email excerpts also show that Mallya refused to reveal his whereabouts. Mallya allegedly said that he did not think it was "wise" to reveal his whereabouts and that he was not a "hardened criminal" who the "authorities need to hunt". "For now, I want to feel safe," said Mallya, according to the email.