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NEW DELHI: Lalit Modi on Monday shared a video from Vijay Mallya’s birthday party, where he referred to himself and Mallya as the “two biggest fugitives from India”.The video, posted on Lalit Modi’s Instagram account, shows him posing with Mallya and saying, “We are the two biggest fugitive from India.” Modi captioned the post, “Let me do something to break the internet down again. Happy birthday my friend #VijayMallya Love u.”
The video drew sharp reactions online. Several comments warned that the two would “regret this” and said that “karma will follow, if not today then tomorrow”. Others said the video was not humour but an open mockery of the Indian state.”This is not humour, it is an open mockery of the Indian state. When economic offenders joke freely from foreign soil, it exposes how weak enforcement and political will really are. The silence of the government sends a dangerous message that the powerful can loot the country, flee, and laugh while ordinary citizens face the full force of the law for far smaller mistakes,” a user wrote.Lalit Modi hosted the birthday party on December 16 at his six-bedroom home in Belgrave Square in London. Friends of Mallya reportedly travelled from India to attend the event. Among those seen at the party were fashion designer Manoviraj Khosla, actor Idris Elba and entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.Vijay Mallya, the former owner of now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, left India in 2016 for United Kingdom after facing several cases in India linked to alleged financial irregularities and loan defaults involving thousands of crores of rupees. Indian authorities are seeking his extradition in money laundering and fraud cases.Lalit Modi, the former chairman of the Indian Premier League, also left India in 2010 after investigations were launched into alleged financial misconduct and irregularities during the IPL’s early years.
