After business tycoon Vijay Mallya denied giving any interview to The Sunday Guardian in which he is believed to have said “the time is not right for his return to India”, the newspaper countered his claim by releasing the email trail leading to the interview.
The Sunday Guardian said it stands by the interview it published online on March 12, in which it reportedly spoke to Mallya who has fled the country in the wake of the probe by different agencies relating to bad debts he accrued.
In the interview, Mallya said that while he is “an Indian to the core” and wanted to return to the country, he was hesitant and did not feel that “the time is right”. The email trail also claims to show Mallya urging the journalist not to “twist” his words to “suit any narrative”.
On March 14, Mallya took to Twitter to dismiss the interview published by the newspaper. He said that he had not given a statement to anyone and claimed not to have heard of “protonmail”, the encrypted email server that the Sunday Guardian claimed Mallya sent his email from.
On Twitter, Mallya said, “Shocked to see Sunday Guardian’s claim that I exchanged mails with them from my protonmail account. Have never heard of protonmail before. I have not given any statement to anyone.”