No honourable exit for Vijay Mallya? RS Chairman rejects resignation

Liquor baron Vijay Mallya sent a resignation letter to the Rajya Sabha. However, Chairman of the Upper House, Hamid Ansari rejected the resignation letter as it did not conform to the “prescribed procedures” and did not bear Mallya’s signature in original, said Gurdeep Singh Sappal, Ansari’s Officer on Special Duty on Twitter. “As per Rule 213 of RS procedures, the resignation must be voluntary and genuine,” he said.

Hamid Ansari, Chairman, Rajya Sabha does not accept the resignation of Vijay Mallya.

— Gurdeep Singh Sappal (@gurdeepsappal) May 3, 2016

SG, RS writes to Sh. Mallya that his resignation letter does not conform to prescribed procedures & does not bear signature in original.

— Gurdeep Singh Sappal (@gurdeepsappal) May 3, 2016

As per Rule 213 of RS procedures, the resignation must be voluntary and genuine.

— Gurdeep Singh Sappal (@gurdeepsappal) May 3, 2016

Earlier, the ethics committee of the Rajya Sabha has recommended expulsion of independent member, Vijay Mallya, a day after he sent his resignation to Chairman Hamid Ansari. “We met today (Tuesday) but it will not be appropriate for me to disclose what transpired in the meeting. Hopefully, the report of the committee will be submitted on Wednesday in the Rajya Sabha,” a member of the ethics committee told IANS on condition of anonymity.

However, sources said the committee has recommended Mallya’s expulsion.

The panel reportedly wants Mallya’s resignation to be rejected, and his expulsion initiated through due procedure.

After the report is submitted in the Upper House, a final decision rests with the Rajya Sabha chairman.

Mallya sent his resignation to Ansari on Monday, a day before the ethics panel was to meet.

He later tweeted: “In all humility and not in defiance as they report, I would like Indian media to check and verify facts before calling me a defaulter.”

Another tweet on Tuesday said: “7686 Wilful Defaulters Owe PSU bank Rs.66,190 cr — easy to blame only Mallya.”

He asserted that “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 had added.

Mallya is wanted for defaulting bank loans to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore.

He is an independent member from Karnataka, and his term ends on 30 June. This is his second term in the Upper House.

According to Parliament sources, during his tenure of almost 10 years as member of the Rajya Sabha, Mallya was declaring his assets and liabilities as “nil”.

The panel members also expressed dissatisfaction with his reply about his loan default. Panel members were of the view that Mallya’s action was “unbecoming” of a Rajya Sabha MP.

The union government revoked Mallya’s passport after he failed to turn up for a probe into the loan default. This set in motion the process for the billionaire’s possible deportation from Britain, where he is staying at present.

His case was referred to the ethics panel by the Rajya Sabha chairman, after he fled the country.

The Enforcement Directorate had a fortnight back written to 17 banks and a clutch of probe agencies to prepare a water-tight case against Mallya who is being probed for money laundering charges in the IDBI alleged loan fraud case.

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 2 March.

with inputs from agencies