Vijay Mallya, the former boss of Kishfisher Airlines, condoled the death of Anita Goyal, wife of Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal. She died in Mumbai on Thursday after battling cancer. She was 70.
The fugitive liquor baron, who is wanted in India for defaulting bank loans worth ₹9,000 crore, described Anita Goyal as a “formidable competitor” at Jet Airways. He said he is sad at what Naresh Goyal is enduring.
“My heartfelt condolences to the Goyal family on the sad passing of Anita. She was a formidable competitor at Jet but a lovely human being. I am also sad that Naresh is enduring what he is given his creation of Jet, a worthy and long standing competitor to KFA,” Mallya wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“Both India’s finest airlines are sadly no more. Wonder why ? May truth prevail eventually.”
See Vijay Mallya's post on X:
Anita Goyal died weeks after the Bombay High Court granted the Goyals a two-month-long interim bail in a money laundering case on medical grounds.
{{/usCountry}}Anita Goyal died weeks after the Bombay High Court granted the Goyals a two-month-long interim bail in a money laundering case on medical grounds.
{{/usCountry}}Naresh Goyal, 75, faces allegations of money laundering and misappropriation of loans amounting to ₹538.62 crore provided to Jet Airways by Canara Bank. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in September last year.
The former aviation tycoon sought interim bail on medical and humanitarian grounds, as he too is fighting cancer.
Vijay Mallya, meanwhile, fled India in 2016 when public sector banks approached the Debt Recovery Tribunal. He is in the United Kingdom and the government is making an effort to extradite him. Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines collapsed in 2012.
Among those who attended Anita Goyal's cremation were friends and family, including Anil Ambani, veteran actor Shabana Azmi and her lyricist husband Javed Akhtar, news agency PTI reported, quoting sources. A few former Jet Airways employees too were reportedly present.