M. Sridhar Acharyulu says Vijay Mallya, who was Rajya Sabha MP in 2016 when he fled, could do so because of high degree of “criminal immunity” he enjoyed.
New Delhi: One of India’s information commissioners has added a new twist to the controversy over how business tycoon Vijay Mallya managed to flee the country in 2016 without paying his creditors.
Mallya could get away because of the high degree of “criminal immunity” he enjoyed as a member of Parliament, Information Commissioner M. Sridhar Acharyulu has said.
Indian MPs enjoy a wide range of privileges and this “facilitated an MP to escape to other countries”, Acharyulu has said.
Also read: SBI ex-chief on Vijay Mallya: Loan was taken. He can pay. So why should it take so long?
Mallya, who allegedly defaulted on a Rs 9,400-crore loan, fled India in March 2016 when he was a Rajya Sabha MP. He resigned as MP on 2 May, 2016, a day before the ethics committee of the Rajya Sabha was due to recommend his expulsion.
Acharyulu’s stinging remarks come in a 56-page order of the Central Information Commission (CIC) seeking transparency of expenditure under the MP local area development scheme (MPLADS).
Mallya & ‘corrupt’ MPs
At a time when the government is being asked some tough questions on how Mallya was allowed to flee despite the serious charges against him, Acharyulu noted in the order: “An MP with such serious allegations could have been removed from Rajya Sabha membership but he was allowed to resign on 2 May 2016, the day before their Ethics Committee was prepared to recommend his expulsion.”
However, “there is still dearth of law to remove and disqualify such persons from entering people’s Houses again”.
The order that was issued Saturday also said: “Though (the) MP is (a) public servant under (the) Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, he cannot be removed from his office,” without Parliament’s directions.
Also read: Vijay Mallya ‘lulled’ CBI into believing he wasn’t a flight risk
“Parliament alone can remove an MP. This means Parliament is a judge in its own case, which might lead to further corruption, as MPs might then try to appease those members who decide their fate,” the CIC order noted.
However, according to former Lok Sabha secretary general Subhash Kashyap, even the courts have the power to disqualify an MP in criminal cases.
To corroborate his point of collusion among MPs, Acharyulu said Mallya became Rajya Sabha MP twice with support of three political parties — the Congress, JD(S) and the BJP.
Last week, ThePrint had reported how both his stints as an Independent MP from Karnataka were marred by allegations that he had bribed MLAs to get their vote.
Also read: The real problem with Vijay Mallya is that he never really grew up
Acharyulu has also cited the various agencies which were at the time investigating Mallya in the loan fraud case, but could do nothing to prevent him from fleeing the country.
MPs & MPLADs
In the order, which criticises the lack of transparency in the way MPs spend the funds under MPLADs, Acharyulu said that a legal framework should be set up “with specific duties and compulsory transparency obligations, definitions of breach of duties, prescribing rules and regulations, besides imposing liabilities for dereliction of duties”.
Arguing that MPs and MLAs are public authorities, Acharyulu has taken exception to older CIC orders stating the opposite, thereby preventing MPs and MLAs to come under the realm of the RTI Act.