How was Vijay Mallya allowed to leave country: Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi, March 10

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How did you allow Vijay Mallya to leave the country, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi asked the Central Government on Thursday, as news of the liquor baron's “flight” to London despite a ‘lookout’ notice against him stirred up a storm in Parliament.

Both Houses of Parliament saw intense debate. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, the leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, accused the Central Government under the NDA of having conspired to allow him to "flee".

In the Lok Sabha, junior Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudy denied Opposition’s allegations and said Mallya was “no saint”.

Gandhi, who spoke to reporters outside the House, wondered why people like Mallya — who has been accused of having defaulted in paying back a whopping Rs 9,000 crore in loans — were allowed to “escape” despite the government’s promises to bring back “black money” stashed abroad.

“The entire country is asking — I am not asking —why you’re helping these people. The question I am asking you is if you have promised to give us Rs 15 lakh, why are you giving him Rs 9,000 crore?"   

"When a poor man steals, he is beaten up and thrown into jail. Someone who does not have food to eat and steals a roti is beaten up and put behind bars and a big businessmen who steals Rs 9,000 crore from country, you allow him to escape in First Class from the country. What is this happening?”

"We simply asked, ‘How someone who stole Rs 9,000 crore from the country ran away. How did you allow him to escape?’ This is a simple question that neither Modiji nor Jaitleyji have answered.," he told reporters outside Parliament.

He also criticised the Central Government’s "Fair and Lovely" tax amnesty scheme, which he said helped  “thieves, black marketeers and drug mafia” convert illegally acquired money into legal money. 

"We asked Mr Jaitley to tell us how Mallya ran away from India. If there is action against him and a lookout notice has been issued against him, then what is he doing in Rajya Sabha," he said. 

'Mallya is no Quattrochi'

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley countered Gandhi’s allegations by reminding him of the Bofors scandal.

Jaitely said, "Rahul ji should remember that there is a basic difference in Mallya leaving (the country) and Quattrochi going out (of India). And let me explain to him the difference".

"When the officials of Switzerland informed that Quattrochi was also among the beneficiaries of Bofors and though the person who was heading the CBI investigation earlier K Madhavan wrote a letter that his passport should be impounded, the then government had not stopped him and within two days he left India. That was a criminal case."  

He also accused banks of delaying legal action against Mallya, which he said allowed the liquor baron to leave the country. 

"Let bankers take all steps to recover their money. If somebody is responsible of inaction... or any other matter of this kind comes to our notice, we will certainly look into that and take appropriate action," Jaitley told reporters.

He was responding to a query with regard to the Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's charges that the government took no action to stop Mallya from moving out of the country.

Jaitley said: "There is a legal process to stop somebody (from going abroad). Either your passport is impounded or there is an order of a court. Otherwise, nobody can stop you. Banks went to court for seeking an order. In this anticipation, he (Mallya) left earlier."

Further, he said: "It would have been better  had banks started the process earlier."

“When he (Vijay Mallya) left the country, legal proceedings had not yet begun.”

Jaitley said: "There has to be a process. There is a law called the Passport Act under which an appropriate order has to be passed by the passport authority".

He however refused to answer whether Mallya’s Rajya Sabha membership would be cancelled.

"There is a process under the Constitution for cancelling the membership of the Rajya Sabha. It cannot be done through a press conference".

‘Mallya is Congress party’s sin'

The BJP accused former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Congress of having supported a “bailout” to rescue the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

The party dubbed the liquor baron Congress’s sin and claimed the public-sector State Bank of India offered the then ailing airlines a loan of Rs 1500 crore despite the company’s shaky finances.

"Singh had spoken about helping out Kingfisher. Congress is now blaming the (NDA) government for sins committed by its government. Industrialists like Mallya are its sins.

Rahul Gandhi should rather answer why Mallya was given loans by 17 banks — most of which are run by government — between 2004 and 2009 despite having dubious finances. What was his party's deal with him?" party National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said.

When Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines began to face financial trouble, Singh was reported to have promised help to ailing private sector entities.

“It was due to the former government's pressure that the public banks gave Mallya loan and unfroze his account which was frozen due to his precarious financial condition,” he alleged.

"It is Congress that is the champion of corruption while our government is acting against such people," he said, dubbing Gandhi a “part-time, non-serious politician”.

Not asked to act against Mallya: MEA

Amid a raging war of words between the government and Opposition over Mallya’s sudden 'disappearance' from the country, External Affairs Ministry said on Thursday that it had yet be asked to take action against the liquor baron.

"As far as Vijay Mallya is concerned MEA has not been asked to take any action," MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

Some 17 banks move Supreme Court to prevent the liquor baron from leaving the country. The banks told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that Mallya had left the country on March 2.

Mallya has an outstanding debt of more than Rs 9, 000 crore, including interest — loans that companies promoted by Mallya had been sanctioned between 2004 and 2007. Banks converted the loans into non-performing assets in 2009. The NPAs were restructured in 2010.

Kingfisher Airlines has since folded up.

Reports claimed that the Central Bureau of Investigation had issued a look out notice against Mallya. The CBI, which was investigating the loans default, had registered FIRs against the liquor baron, his now defunct Kingfisher Airlines and some others in October 2015.  — Agencies