Finance minister says Mallya as Rajya Sabha MP ‘misused’ privilege to make ‘an offer of settlement’ inside House.
New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Wednesday denied claims by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who earlier in the day said he had met the finance minister before fleeing the country in 2016.
Mallya had told reporters outside a court in London, where he is fighting extradition to India, that he had met Jaitley to settle matters.
“Before leaving, I met the finance minister and offered to settle the issue with the banks,” said the 62-year-old, who is facing money laundering charges in an alleged multi-crore fraud.
Jaitley, however, took to Facebook to dismiss Mallya’s claims as being “factually false”.
Hours later, though, Mallya clarified his statement, saying he had not met the finance minister “formally” but had merely run into him in Parliament.
Also read: Liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya claims he met finance minister before leaving India
In his Facebook blog, Jaitley that he had never given Mallya any appointment.
“My attention has been drawn to a statement made to the media by Vijay Mallya on having met me with an offer of settlement. The statement is factually false in as much as it does not reflect the truth,” Jaitley wrote.
Jaitley added that Mallya, a member of the Rajya Sabha, occasionally attended Parliament and that he ‘misused’ that privilege on one occasion.
“He paced up to catch up with me and while walking uttered a sentence that ‘I am making an offer of settlement,’” Jaitley wrote. He added that he told Mallya that there was no point talking to him and that he should instead hold talks with the banks.
A blow to NDA
Mallya’s statement has dealt a massive blow to the BJP-led NDA government that is currently battling multiple challenges, including the depreciation of the rupee and rising fuel prices. The remarks also come on the back of charges by the Opposition that the government lax attitude had allowed ‘defaulters’ such as Mallya to flee the country.
The State Bank of India (SBI), which led a consortium of 17 lenders that had exposure to the defunct Kingfisher Airlines, had declared Mallya a wilful defaulter in February 2016. SBI along with other lenders also approached the Karnataka High Court appealing for Mallya’s arrest and impoundment of his passport.
Also read: UK court asks Indian authorities to submit a video of Vijay Mallya’s future prison in Mumbai
The liquor baron has been charged with fraud and money laundering. He allegedly diverted over Rs 6,000 crore, which he had obtained as a loan for his airlines, to shell companies in other countries including the UK, France and Ireland.
Vijay Mallya’s membership of the Rajya Sabha had conflict of interest written all over it. He also served on a parliamentary committee that dealt with civil aviation. Monday mornings, on his private Airbus 320, a gaggle of parliamentarians would hitch a ride from Bombay to Delhi, to attend the session. Mandarins, bankers, other dignitaries partook copiously of his hospitality.