Ever since Team India landed in England to participate in the ICC Champions Trophy, fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya has made it a point to mark his presence at every big occasion.
After his picture with Sunil Gavaskar from the stands during India-Pakistan clash at Edgbaston on Sunday created a huge controversy, Mallya barged into The Virat Kohli Charity Ball in London for the ‘Justice and Care Organisation’ late on Monday without any formal invitation.
Mallya, who has been declared an absconder in India after defaulting on bank loans worth Rs 9,000 crore, left the entire Indian team and officials embarrassed after landing at the charity dinner.
The players, including Kohli, maintained a safe distance from Mallya and left the function early in order to avoid any “unnecessary controversy”.
“The moment I saw Mallya entering the hall, I signalled all the players to leave to avoid unnecessary gossip. And almost everyone, except our captain who was host of the event, left the scene,” a senior BCCI official told DNA.
Mallya was seen sitting near former India wicket-keeper Farokh Engineer. Kohli’s charity ball was attended by Sachin Tendulkar and the Indian cricket team.
The Indian team was in full attendance and openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan were seen with their wives, Ritika Sajdeh and Ayesha Mukherjee, respectively.
This is not the first time that Mallya has left Indian hosts embarrassed. Nearly a year ago (June 16, 2016) Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Navtej Sarna was forced to walk out of a book launch event for the same reason.
Mallya is known to be a cricket lover but BCCI sources were quick to distance team and officials from his presence.
However, Mallya appears to be unperturbed by the criticism over his presence and vowed to attend all the remaining India matches against Sri Lanka on June 8 (Thursday) and South Africa on June 11 (Sunday).
Mallya left India on March 2, 2016. He was later arrested by the Scotland Yard in London and produced before the Westminster Magistrates’ Court where he was granted conditional bail pending deposit of £650,000 (about Rs 5 crore) prior to his release from custody.
