A day after the Ministry of External Affairs said Vijay Mallya was not on the list of invitees for a book launch event in london that was attended by Indian High Commissioner Navtej Sarna, the liqour baron said he was not a “gatecrasher”.
“I am not a gatecrasher and will never be... never gatecrashed in my life,” Mallya posted on Twitter.
Mallya’s presence at the london School of Economics (lSE) event for the release of a book by author Suhel Seth and journalist Sunny Sen sparked off a controversy as the liquor baron has been declared a “proclaimed offender” by a Mumbai court.
On spotting Mallya seated in the back row of the hall, Indian High Commissioner Navtej Sarna walked out of the ceremony.
“I went for my friend -- the author. Sat quietly with my daughter and listened. Headline news and unfounded speculation followed,” he added.
“No evidence, No charge sheet. Before claiming all this, should I not be given a chance to pursue my legal remediesIJ Most unfair,” Mallya tweeted.
“What is happening to me is unprecedented,” he added.
Meanwhile, Minister for external Affairs Sushma Swaraj defended Indian High Commissioner in UK Navtej Sarna attending an book launch event where Mallya was also spotted in the audience. She said neither event organiser london School of Economics(lSE) nor the Indian High Commission had invited Mallya for the event where a book by socialite Suhel Seth was launched.
“If Suhel Seth invites someone then the High Commissioner did not know that. There were two kinds of invitation that were sent. The first was for launch of book and the other by the High Commissioner for reception.
“The first invite was sent by lSE. lSE has formally written a letter to us and said that they did not send invite to him (Mallya) but it is also true that there was an open invitation too because they (lSE) had to fill a hall of 400 people and students go on vacation in summers. Hence, through the open invite anyone could come,” she said.
Swaraj added that the HC’s reception invite too did not go to Mallya.
“There was no authorised invite by lSE to him (Mallya) nor any from the High Commissioner. You also know that as soon as the HC (Sarna) saw that Mallya is present there, he left in five minutes.
“I don’t understand then why this is being made an issue. When we see the invitees list and the conduct of HC then this issue does not remain,” she said.