Panaji: Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has said that he had once turned down an invitation by beleaguered liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya to attend his birthday celebrations in the state.
"He (Mallya) had invited me for his birthday. He had sent his officer who had said there is a room booked for me," Parsekar told reporters here last evening. "I folded my hands and told him that I am better off in my home," the Chief Minister said.
On allowing banks to confiscate Mallya's mansion, Kingfisher Villa, Parsekar said law will take its own course. "I have heard that he has a property in Goa somewhere. If it is to be attached then law will take its own course," Parsekar said.
Under fire over dues running to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore of long-grounded Kingfisher Airlines in unpaid loans and interest, Mallya left the country on March 2, triggering a political row with Congress and BJP trading charges.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned the liquor baron to appear before it in Mumbai on March 18 as part of its money laundering probe over the alleged default of payment of dues to IDBI bank by Kingfisher Airlines.
