Stories of millionaires who went from rags to riches are popular in India. However, there are a few businessmen who lost all they had and went from riches to rags.

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The saga of liquor baron Vijaya Mallya, who was also known as the king of good times, is a similar one.

King of good times

Mallya was born on December 18, 1955, to Vittal Mallya and Lalitha Mallya. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha and the former owner of an Indian Premier League cricket franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore.

After the death of his father, Mallya became the chairman of the conglomerate United Breweries Holdings in 1983 at the age of 28. Under his leadership, the group, known for Kingfisher beer, had grown into a multi-national conglomerate of over 60 companies with interests in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, paints, petrochemicals and plastics, batteries, food and carbonated beverages.

In 2005, Mallya launched Kingfisher Airlines which started with the inaugural flight from Mumbai to Delhi. Two years later, he bought the bleeding Air Deccan, which was India's first low-fare carrier, promoted by Captain GR Gopinath.

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The business mogul came to be called the "King of Good Times" and "the playboy of the east”. He owned a private jet, a personalised Boeing 727, yachts, stud farms with around 200 horses, and nearly 250 vintage cars.

Mallya bid for the sword of Tipu Sultan for Rs 1.7 crore and other artefact at an auction in London and brought them to India. He also successfully bid for the iconic items of Mahatma Gandhi such as his glasses, sandals, pocket watch, plate and a bowl for $1.8 million in a New York auction and brought them to India.

The defaulter

Kingfisher Airlines had to stop operations due to its burgeoning debt burden and was finally grounded in 2012. By then, the beleaguered airline had failed to pay salaries to employees.

On March 2, 2016, Mallya fled the country after a consortium of public sector banks moved the Debt Recovery Tribunal against him. Mallya owed a group of 17 Indian banks approximately Rs 9,000 crore ($1.3 billion) in loans. Mallya had allegedly routed the funds to gain full control or a partial stake in about 40 companies across the world. Apart from the Income Tax Department, the Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation is also investigating Mallya for charges of financial fraud and money laundering.

Also read: Interpol Meet: India asks UK to expedite Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi’s extradition

The Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court declared Mallya a "proclaimed offender" on June 13, 2016, following a money-laundering probe against him by the Enforcement Directorate of an alleged Rs 9000 crore loan default case.

The consortium of banks had hoped to restrain Mallya from leaving India so that he turned up at debt recovery tribunal proceedings. However, the industrialist was already in the UK. Since then, the Indian government has tried to extradite him from the UK. In 2017, on the extradition request of the Indian government, British authorities arrested Mallya, but he got bail soon. The extradition process is on and Mallya lost his appeal in the UK High Court to stop his extradition in 2020, following which he appealed to the higher court.

In July 2022, the Supreme Court in India sentenced the fugitive businessman to four months imprisonment for contempt of court and imposed a fine of Rs 2,000. Mallya is still in London on bail, where he has been contesting extradition to India.

Also read: Vijay Mallya’s lawyer tells SC 'no communication from client' seeks discharge from case