Do we like them?

Do we like Vijay Mallya?

Our score: 2 out of 10. Nothing nasty aimed at any group turned up, but court findings against him and no verified good deeds keep this very low.

Mallya was India’s champagne-and-private-jets tycoon: owner of Kingfisher Airlines, a Formula One team and a stack of shares in United Breweries and United Spirits. Those pledged shares were later sold off in the recoveries that followed the airline’s collapse. He was also a Rajya Sabha member until he resigned in May 2016, reportedly as parliament’s ethics committee moved to recommend his expulsion over asset declarations.

The money trail is the story. In 2017 India’s Debts Recovery Tribunal held him liable as a guarantor for ₹6,203.35 crore plus 11.5 per cent interest, and a UK court declared him bankrupt in 2021. His line is that he never borrowed a rupee himself, the airline did; The Federal’s fact-check calls that a half-truth, because he signed personal guarantees and courts held him liable.

Then there’s the contempt case. The Supreme Court found him in contempt for hiding asset details and disobeying orders, after about US$40 million was moved. In July 2022 it sentenced him to four months in prison and a ₹2,000 fine, and ordered the money back with 8 per cent interest. Outlook Business reports those orders have not been fulfilled.

Separately, India’s Enforcement Directorate has alleged that ₹3,432 crore was diverted through over-invoiced aircraft lease rentals, and CBI chargesheets have alleged loan money went to shell companies, overseas accounts and his F1 team. Those are allegations, not court findings, and Mallya says he didn’t siphon money. His best point is that banks have recovered more than ₹14,000 crore, though The Federal notes that came from enforcement and forced sales, not voluntary repayment.

On the harm test, we searched for anything he has said or done about LGBTQ+ people, women, migrants or the climate and found nothing, so that’s a pass on a thin record. His harm is of a different sort: The Federal reports staff wages were owed well before the airline collapsed. Mallya says banks objected and the court refused to release frozen funds, and he has apologised for the collapse.

The latest we could verify is February 2026. The Bombay High Court said it would not hear his challenge to the fugitive economic offender law unless he returns. His lawyer said English court orders bar him from leaving, and the Chief Justice asked, “Are you just taking these orders as an excuse?” The Centre argued India has a robust legal system and he should submit to it.