Vijay Mallya. Photo: Reuters

New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha ethics panel has recommended the expulsion of Vijay Mallya “with immediate effect” from the house after his resignation was rejected by Chairman Hamid Ansari.

“Having considered the whole matter, including Mallya’s (resignation) letter, the Committee of Ethics unanimously decided at its meeting on May 3, 2016, to recommend to the house that Vijay Mallya be expelled with immediate effect,” the panel said in its recommendation to the upper house.

The report was tabled in the house on Wednesday by panel chairman Karan Singh.

“The committee hopes that by taking such stern action, a message would reach the general public that parliament is committed to take such steps as are necessary against erring members to uphold the dignity and prestige of this great institution.”

The house will now take a call on the recommendation before adopting or rejecting the committee report.

Mallya is accused of defaulting on more than Rs.9,000 crore in loans he had taken from a consortium of banks. He left India on March 2 and is believed to be in the United Kingdom. His passport has been revoked after he failed to appear for three consecutive summons by the Enforcement Directorate.

In an apparent attempt to pre-empt his expulsion, Mallya wrote to Chairman Ansari on Tuesday seeking to resign from the house because he did not want his “name and reputation to be further dragged in mud”.

However, Ansari turned down the resignation on procedural grounds.

(Agencies)

Mumbai: The special PMLA court issued non-bailable warrant against liqour baron Vijay Mallya on Monday in connection with money-laundering case, according to reports.

Special Judge P R Bhavke passed the order in connection with the ED application seeking non-bailable warrant against Mallya in connection with a money laundering probe in the over Rs 900- crore IDBI loan fraud case.

Kingfisher Airlines today morning moved an application in the special PMLA court here terming as “false and incorrect” Enforcement Directorate’s charges against its owner Vijay Mallya that he had siphoned off Rs 430 crore of the IDBI loan and used this money to acquire property abroad.

“This fact may have a bearing in the mind of the court so we wanted to correct it and place it before the court. ED’s charges are false and incorrect,” said advocate Pranav Badeka of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines (KFA).

The court had on Saturday reserved its order till today. It is likely to hear the arguments of KFA and may pass an order on ED’s NBW request later in the day.

ED on Saturday, during arguments, had told the court that out of the Rs 950 crore which Mallya’s company had borrowed from IDBI for using it in the Kingfisher Airlines, Rs 430 crore was diverted and spent on purchase of property abroad.

Thus, the bank’s money was used for some purpose other than the one for which the loan had been given, ED counsel Hiten Venegaonkar told the court.

The 60-year-old industrialist, who is in UK, has skipped three summons issued by the agency. He had also sought time till May to depose before the officials.

On April 9, in reply to the last summons, Mallya had informed the Investigating Officer (IO) of the case here that he will be unable to depose personally as scheduled citing the ongoing legal proceedings going in the Supreme Court over settlement of loans.

The agency had issued fresh summons in the first week of April to Mallya asking him to appear on April 9 after he sought two extensions from the earlier dates of March 18 and April 2 citing official reasons.

The officials said that while seeking extension Mallya had informed the ED that cases related to bank loans were currently sub-judice in the Supreme Court and he was trying to settle these loans with the help of his legal and corporate team and, hence, would require some more time.

Mallya was first summoned by the agency to “appear in person” at its office in Mumbai on March 18 but he sought more time citing his prior engagements, following which the agency asked him to depose on April 2.

He was also directed by the Supreme Court to disclose all assets owned by him and his family in India and abroad by April 21.

The liquor baron, who is facing legal proceedings for alleged default of loans worth over Rs 9,000 crore from various banks, is reported to be in the UK after he left India on March 2. Government on Friday suspended Mallaya’s passport.

ED has registered a money laundering case against Mallya and others based on an FIR registered last year by the CBI.

The agency is also investigating financial structure of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines and looking into any payment of kickbacks to secure loans.

(Agencies)

New Delhi: Vijay Mallya, whose Kingfisher Airlines has defaulted on loans of over Rs 9,400 crores, and has been defying Enforcement Directorate summons, today suffered a major blow when his passport was suspended by the government which has threatened to revoke it.

The diplomatic passport of the flamboyant 60-year-old industrialist, who has been in Britain for over a month and has refused to appear before the ED, was suspended by the External Affairs Ministry on the recommendation of the agency.

“On the advice of the Enforcement Directorate, the Passport lssuing Authority in the MEA has today suspend the validity of Vijay Mallya’s diplomatic passport with immediate effect for a period of 4 weeks, under Section 10 A of the Passports Act, 1967.

“Mallya has been asked to respond within one week as to why his passport should not be impounded or revoked under section 10(3)(c) of the Passports Act, 1967. If he fails to respond within the stipulated time, it will be assumed that he has no response to offer and the MEA will go ahead with the revocation,” MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

(Agencies)

Vijay Mallya. Photo: Reuters

New Delhi: Beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya will not be presenting himself before the Enforcement Directorate investigators for the third time today as he sought time till May to depose before it in connection with a money laundering probe in the over Rs 900 crore IDBI loan fraud case.

Officials said Mallya has informed the Investigating Officer (IO) of the case in Mumbai that he will be unable to depose personally as scheduled today citing the ongoing legal proceedings going in the Supreme Court over settlement of loans.

However, it is understood that the liquor baron has suggested his legal team can help ED in taking the probe forward.

Sources did not immediately comment as to what next step the agency will take now as he has sought time till May, a request he made to the IO last week too and which was turned down.

“The next action will be decided in due course,” they said. The agency had issued fresh summons last week to Mallya asking him to appear on April 9 after he sought two extensions from the earlier dates of March 18 and April 2 citing official reasons.

Officials had, however, earlier said that the agency has by and large two options in case an accused skips appearance on summons thrice, the maximum time allowed under PMLA.The options include revoking his or her passport and/or getting issued a non-bailable warrant.

ED officials had earlier hinted that the April 9 summons could possibly be the last to Mallya.The IO of the case had allowed his plea to postpone his appearance till now, they said, both on technical and legal grounds.

It is understood that Mallya, while seeking extensions, had informed the IO that cases related to bank loans were currently sub-judice in the Supreme Court and he was trying to settle these loans with the help of his legal and corporate team and, hence, would require some more time.

Mallya was first summoned by the agency to “appear in person” at its office in Mumbai on March 18 but he sought more time citing his prior engagements, following which the agency asked him to depose on April 2.

Mallya, who is facing legal proceedings for alleged default of loans worth over Rs 9,000 crore from various banks, was also directed by the Supreme Court to disclose all assets owned by him and his family in India and abroad by April 21.

The Supreme Court also sought to know when he will appear before the apex court. The directions by the apex court came after a consortium of banks led by State Bank of India “unanimously rejected” his proposal to pay Rs 4,000 crore by September towards settlement of his loans.

The bench agreed with the consortium that Mallya’s presence was necessary in the country to show his bona fides that he was serious about settling his dues. He is reported to be in the UK after he left India on March 2.

The ED has registered a money laundering case against Mallya and others based on an FIR registered last year by the CBI. The agency is also investigating financial structure of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines and looking into any payment of kickbacks to secure loans.

(PTI)

Vijay Mallya. Photo: Reuters

New Delhi: The Supreme Court was told that beleaguered liquor baron Vijay Mallya has on Wednesday morning offered to pay Rs.4,000 crore for settling outstanding dues against the grounded Kingfisher Airlines on account of loans extended to it by a consortium of 13 banks headed by the State Bank of India.

The apex court bench of Justice Kurien Joseph and Rohington F. Nariman was also told that Mallya has offered another Rs.2,000 crore that he expects to get, if he succeeds in his suit against multinational General Electric.

Mallya’s counsel said that the proposal for the payment of Rs.4,000 crore by September was made to the chief general manager of the State Bank of India (SBI).

The SBI told the court that it needed a week’s time to consider the proposal made by Vijay Mallya, and submitted that way back in 2013 the bank had filed a suit claiming Rs.6,903 crore plus interest thereon.

In a query from the bank about Mallya’s location, his counsel told the court that he was still abroad but had two video conferencing sessions with the bank officials after his departure from India to London.

(Agencies)

Mumbai: In a bizarre incident a passenger travelling ticketless refused to pay up a fine amount of Rs 260 and raked up a row asking the authorities to make Vijay Mallya pay up his dues of Rs 9000 crore before fining her.

The passenger has been sent to Byculla jail for 7 days, but has so far refused to back down from her stance.

The incident took place on Sunday afternoon when Premlatha Bhansali, a 44-year-old lady was travelling in a Mumbai local when a ticket checker asked for her ticket at Mahalaxmi station. Since she was ticketless the TC asked her to cough up the fine amount of Rs 260. Bhansali however refused to pay up the fine amount and started arguing with the TC that authorities should initially recover debts owed by Mallya instead of fining poor people like her.

Standing her ground she kept arguing with the rail authorities for nearly 12 hours demanding that she be produced before a magistrate so she could express her point.

Bhansali, who was produced before the Magistrate on Tuesday, accepted all the charges read out to her but refused to pay the fine amount for her offense which now amounted to Rs 1500.

The court even reduced the fine to Rs 460 on humanitarian grounds, but Bhansali maintained her stance saying she would not pay the fine even if she is jailed for six months or a year.

“The government does not nail the rich but are after the poor like me,” says Bhansali as reported by a daily.

The Magistrate then sent her to police custody for seven days.

(Agencies)

New Delhi: Beleagured businessman Vijay Mallya, who is facing legal proceedings for alleged loan defaults by his group to the tune of over Rs 9,000 crore, today said he is not an absconder and he will comply with the law of the land.

“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,” Mallya tweeted earlier this morning from an undisclosed location.

He further said: “As an Indian MP I fully respect and will comply with the law of the land. Our judicial system is sound and respected. But no trial by media.”

He also sought to shift the blame to the media, saying: ” Once a media witch hunt starts it escalates into a raging fire where truth and facts are burnt to ashes. Let media bosses not forget help, favours, accommodation that I have provided over several years which are documented. Now lies to gain TRP?.”

Mallya also questioned news reports that he must declare his assets.

“Does that mean that Banks did not know my assets or look at my Parliamentary disclosures?,” he added.

The 60-year-old liquor baron, who is facing legal proceedings for alleged loan defaults of Rs 9,000 crore by his group, left the country on March 2, even as banks have approached the courts to seek orders restraining him from going abroad.

While he remained silent on his whereabouts, reports said the UB Group chairman and Rajya Sabha member is believed to be at his country home in an English village about an hour’s drive north of London.

Opposition leaders including Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi have raised questions about how he was allowed to leave the country despite a ‘lookout’ notice by CBI.

On Wednesday, the government told the Supreme Court that Mallya had left India on March 2 following which the bench issued notice to him and sought his response within two weeks on pleas filed by a consortium of banks seeking direction for freezing his passport and his presence before the apex court.

(PTI)

Vijay Mallya. Photo: Reuters

New Delhi: Congress today accused the BJP- led government of “criminal consipracy” in allowing businessman Vijay Mallya, facing probe in several loan default cases, to fly out of the country, as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley sought to corner the main opposition party by saying the loans were given to him during UPA rule.

“My charge against this government is that when so many agencies were interrogating him (Mallya), why was he not arrested, why was his passport not confiscated,” Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said in Rajya Sabha.

Raising the matter during Zero Hour, Azad said everyone knew Mallya “could flee any day” and the investigating agencies should have seized his passport and taken steps to restrict his movement.

Maintaining that Mallya lived a “luxurious life” and had bases in several countries, the Congress leader said Mallya is not a “needle” and moves around with an entourage and expressed surprise how he managed to leave the country despite a CBI “Look Out Notice”.

“My allegation is that this government is party to this criminal conspiracy of allowing him to escape and leave the country. In this criminal conspiracy, this Government should be made party and the Supreme Court should take note of this.

“Without the participation and without the active support of this government, he could not have left the country. That is my allegation,” Azad said, adding that “one had escaped, the second Lalit Modi (Mallya) should not be allowed to escape”.

Countering the charges, Jaitley said the banks have been asked to recover “every penny that is due”, adding that the first banking facility was given to Mallya and his companies in September 2004 which were renewed in February 2008.

The Leader of the House further said the accounts were declared non-performing assets (NPA) on April 30, 2009 and these debts were restructured and more facilites extened in December 2010.

“In what circumstances were the loans given is an issue of investigation and the CBI is investigating,” he said.

“How these accounts were running, what facilities were given, the dates tell their own story,” Jaitley said, adding “when the loans were given, how they were given… introspection will be required.”

Jaitley said the liabilities including interest aggregates to Rs 9,091.4 crore as on November 30, 2015.

Maintaining that banks and financial institutions were taking steps to recover dues and attachment of properties, the Minister said he had a list of 22 cases filed in different parts of the country and added that some assets have also been attached.

He also said there was no order to stop Mallya from leaving the country.

“That day, there was no order of any agency to stop him (from leaving the country),” Jaitley said, adding Mallya had left the country before the banks moved the Supreme Court for seizure of his passport.

Mallya had left the country on March 2.

On Azad’s contention that the present government had failed to bring back Lalit Modi, Jaitley said it was during the UPA rule that the former IPL chief had left the country.

“I was giving an example that one had escaped, the second Lalit Modi (Mallya) should not be allowed to escape,” Azad said.

The senior Congress leader also said that during his long political career, he has never recommended to any bank for advancing loan to any person.

Earlier, Naresh Agrawal (SP) said the matter of Mallya, a Rajya Sabha MP, should be referred to Ethics Committee.

Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said: “I agree with you. This is a matter to be taken up by the Ethics Committee”.

(Agencies)