Friday 19 / April / 2024
New Delhi: Independent Member of Parliament and business tycoon Vijay Mallya, facing a case of loan default of over Rs94 billion, on Monday resigned from Rajya Sabha, a day before Ethics Committee of the Upper House was set to recommend his expulsion.
In his resignation letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari, he said he does not want his "name and reputation to be further dragged in the mud".
"And since recent events suggest that I will not get a fair trial or justice, I am hereby resigning as a member of the Rajya Sabha with immediate effect," Mallya said in the letter.
He also referred to the letter written to him by the Chairman of the Ethics Committee of Rajya Sabha Karan Singh and said he had replied to Singh.
This is Mallya's second term in Rajya Sabha and it would have otherwise come to an end on July 1.
Ethics Panel of the Upper House, which had taken up the matter, had unanimously decided in its April 25 meeting that Mallya should no longer remain a member of the House and was planning to recommend his expulsion in its next meeting on May 3.
At the same time, the panel had decided to give Mallya one week's time to explain his conduct.
In a step closer to initiating his deportation, the government had over a week ago revoked the passport of Mallya, who is believed to be in the UK after leaving India on March 2.
Mallya also thanked the Rajya Sabha Chairman and his "colleagues in the House for all the cooperation" that he received during his two terms.
He said he received a letter from panel Chairman Karan Singh dated April 25 in which it was stated that the Rajya Sabha Chairman had referred an issue to the Committee on Ethics regarding "purported default" by Mallya in the "repayment of bank loans", which have "not been reflected" in his declaration of assets and liabilities.
Mallya said the letter further stated that in a meeting "purportedly held" on May 25, the Committee on Ethics unanimously felt that he should be expelled from the Rajya Sabha.
Appending a copy of his reply to Karan Singh, Mallya, who faxed his resignation to the Rajya Sabha Chairman, asserted, "The allegations against me are blatantly false and baseless."
"I am shocked that the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Government of India has provided factually wrong information to a Parliament Committee," he added.
"Nevertheless since I do not want my name and reputation to be further dragged in the mud and since recent events suggest that I will not get a fair trial or justice, I am hereby resigning as a member of the Rajya Sabha with immediate effect," Mallya said.
In the panel meeting, Janata Dal(United) President Sharad Yadav had strongly pitched for immediate recommendation for Mallya's expulsion.
However, some other members felt procedures had to be followed and he should be given time to explain his conduct.
The committee had sought details of the liabilities on Mallya's airline Kingfisher from 13 banks, which furnished their replies according to which the total liability on Mallya's company is Rs 94.31 billion.
Of this IDBI's liability alone is Rs16.87 billion followed by Punjab National Bank's Rs12.23 billion.
