'Vijay Mallya A Gentleman, Not a Crook,' Says Farooq Abdullah

New Delhi: Hours after he tweeted that he was no absconder, liquor baron Vijay Mallya received support from a former colleague in Parliament,  Farooq Abdullah, who called him a "gentleman, not a crook".

In Parliament, the government and the opposition have clashed over the businessman's "escape", possibly to the UK, in the middle of attempts to recover nearly a billion dollars owed by his collapsed Kingfisher airlines to banks.

Former lawmaker Farooq Abdullah, known for his outspokenness, took a different line.

"He's a gentleman, he will answer. When the government calls him he'll come," Mr Abdullah told reporters.

"He started a very good airline... unfortunately that airline was his greatest failure. Whatever trouble he has today is because of Kiingfisher...I'd call him a gentleman , he's a human being , he's led a huge company, he went bad like so many people go , but you don't call them crooks."

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister also reasoned: "He has just failed...how many in Jammu and Kashmir have failed, what would you call them?"

Mr Abdullah and Mr Mallya have been colleagues in the Rajya Sabha.

Mr Mallya, who is still a member of the Rajya Sabha, tweeted this morning: "I am an international businessman. I travel to and from India frequently. I did not flee from India and neither am I an absconder. Rubbish."

A group of 17 banks owed almost 9000 crores in debt by Mr Mallya's grounded Kingfisher Airlines had asked the Supreme Court to stop him from leaving the country but the government told the court that he had left on March 2.

Mr Mallya, dubbed the "king of good times" over his extravagant lifestyle and larger-than-life persona, was granted huge loans by many state-run banks without adequate security for his Kingfisher Airlines even though it was clear the company was collapsing.