62-year-old former Kingfisher Airline boss Vijay Mallya on Wednesday said that he had met with finance minster to settle money laundering charges in multi-crore fraud cases before he left the country.
The remarks by Mallya came after he arrived at the Westminster Magistrates' Court for a hearing in his extradition case.
"I met the finance minister to settle matters before I left. The banks had filed objections to my settlement letters," Mallya told reporters outside London's Westminster Magistrates' Court.
It may be mentioned that, Arun Jaitley was the finance minister when Mallya left India in March 2016. He is also the current finance minister.
The former Kingfisher Airline boss, who has been on bail on an extradition warrant since his arrest in April last year, responded to the swarm of reporters gathered outside the court in his characteristic manner, saying the "courts will decide".