New Delhi: The Opposition cornered the government on Thursday over business tycoon Vijay Mallya's clandestine exit from the India. The Congress accused the government of being party to the "criminal conspiracy" that helped Mallya escape and demanded action against the banks who sanctioned loans when Mallya faced crippling debt. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in turn, hit back at the Congress claiming that the loans were given to Mallya during the UPA rule.
Raising the matter during Zero Hour, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad in Rajya Sabha said, "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." 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.
Jaitley said the government has vowed to go after the former liquor baron and get him back to India. 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. How these accounts were running, what facilities were given, the dates tell their own story. When the loans were given, how they were given... introspection will be required," Jaitley said.
Jaitley said the liabilities including interest aggregates to Rs 9,091.4 crore as on November 30, 2015.
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