Rajya Sabha member PL Punia alleged that Jaitley held a 20-minute meeting with Mallya on March 1, 2016. .
In a presser at Congress headquarters, party president Rahul Gandhi alleged that Vijay Mallya told Arun Jaitley he was leaving the country and the Finance Minister ‘colluded’ with the absconding businessman. The press conference at Congress HQ came almost simultaneously after BJP accused Rahul Gandhi of 'using black money' and said they had proof.
Gandhi said that the FM had ‘colluded with a criminal running away from the country’. Congress Rajya Sabha member PL Punia told the conference that he witnessed a meeting between Jaitley and Mallya which lasted 20 minutes on March 1, 2016.
Punia said it was ‘clear that he talked to Jaitley before going to London’. Punia asked journalists to check the CCTV footage and promised to quit politics if he was proven wrong.
Puniya said: "I saw Jaitley and Mallya talking in the corner. 5-7 minutes later they continued their discussion on the bench." He alleged that Mallya had come for the first time just to meet Jaitley.
Rahul Gandhi added: “The Finance Minister has colluded with a criminal running away from the country. Finance Minister talks to an absconder, absconder tells him that he going to London. Finance Minister doesn't tell CBI, ED or police. Why? The arrest notice was changed to informed notice. This can be done only by the one who controls CBI.”
Gandhi went on to attack Jaitley, saying he wrote long blogs but never mentioned this meeting. Sharpening his attack, Gandhi urged Jaitley to clear his stand to explain whether the order ‘came from the top’.
He added: “The FM has colluded with a criminal running away from the country. Criminal told him that he is running away. the Finance Minister hasn't informed ED, CBI this means he is colluding.”
Rahul used black money, have proof: BJP
Just a few moments before the Congress presser started, BJP hit back by accusing Rahul Gandhi of ‘using black money’.
In a press conference at the BJP headquarters, Sambit Patra the party’s national spokesperson alleged that they had proof Rahul Gandhi was ‘using black money’.
He went on to claim that the BJP had proof that the Gandhi family was helping Vijay Mallya with ‘sweet’ deals.
He added that people out on bail shouldn’t be questioning ‘people who are innocent'.
He claimed that Rahul Gandhi had taken Rs 1 crore loan from a shell company and that the party had the ‘confession of one of the company’s directors’.
He added: “There are documents that show how the RBI and UPA under Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh had given 'sweet deals' to Kingfisher Airlines. Gandhis were willing to let the economy tank but wanted to keep Kingfisher Airlines afloat.”
Earlier, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan defended his cabinet colleague and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley saying absconding businessman Vijay Mallya took ‘undue advantage of the FM’s presence in Parliament corridor’.
He said: “He (Mallya)had taken undue advantage of his (FM)presence in Parliament corridor. It's a lie&violation of decorum. Who used to go to parties in Goa? Who used to be his guests abroad? It should be found out. Jo unke beneficiaries hain ,chor machaye shor...Won't let him go, as long as Narendra Modi is PM, however strong might the fugitive be, he'll be brought back.”
Meanwhile, his colleague RS Prasad wondered if Mallya and Rahul Gandhi were 'working in tandem'.
Opposition parties Wednesday latched on to Vijay Mallya's statement he had met Arun Jaitley before leaving India and demanded a probe into the fugitive liquor baron's claim, which was rubbished by the finance minister as "factually false".
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi tweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi should immediately order an independent probe into Mallya's "extremely serious allegations" and Jaitley should step down while the investigation is underway.
The claim made by Mallya, facing charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to Rs 9,000 crore, has triggered a political storm, with the Congress saying the government must explain how and why Mallya was allowed to leave India.
Jaitley, however, said he never gave Mallya an appointment after becoming a minister in 2014, but the liquor baron misused his position as an MP to accost him once in Parliament.
Soon after Jaitley's rebuttal, Mallya appeared to tone down the seriousness of his claim, saying it was not a "formal meeting" and he only "happened to meet" the minister, when he told him he was going to London. Mallya also said he was not "tipped off" by anyone to flee the country.
Reacting on the issue, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy tweeted, "I learn from my sources that the Lookout Notice issued by CBI for Mallya was modified from "Block Departure" to "Report Departure" on October 24, 2015 on orders from someone in MoF. Who? (sic)" Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, too, described as "absolutely shocking" the revelation by Mallya and asked, "Why did the finance minister hide this information till now?" "Absolutely shocking. PM Modi meets Neerav (sic) Modi before he flees the country. FM meets Vijay Mallya before he flees India. What transpired in these meetings? People want to know," Kejriwal said on Twitter.
Former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, a former union finance minister who has been critical of Jaitley and his handling of the ministry, said the entire BJP leadership, not just the finance minister, must come clean on its ties with Mallya.
Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi said the government was "fully complicit" in the flight of Mallya and Punjab National Bank fraud accused Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi from India.
"Everybody was complacent and everybody was aware... Whether it was - a casual meeting or a structured meeting. We need proper disclosures, full inquiries on this," he said.
Singhvi said the moot question remains why was no action taken before Mallya fled the country.
He said Mallya's claim is a vindication of the Congress's stand that the government always knew about the fleeing defaulters. He said India wants to know what transpired during the meeting between Mallya and Jaitley.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said Mallya's escape reconfirmed how Modi government "enables big defaulters to loot public money and scoot".
"The fundamental point is how he got away despite 'lookout notices'?" Yechury tweeted while mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi by tagging a picture of him performing yoga by resting on a stone and facing the sky.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said the entire NDA government was "hand in glove" with scamsters and absconders.
"They hatched a plot to loot hundreds of thousands of crores. PM and FM must respond on this," Yadav said in a tweet.
Terming Mallya's offer to settle overdue loans of more than Rs 9,000 crore to his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines as "bluff offers", Jaitley said he did not even take the papers the liquor baron was carrying during that brief encounter.
Mallya, 62, is fighting numerous lawsuits in the UK and back home over fraud and money-laundering allegations as well as an extradition to India.
"I left because I had a scheduled meeting in Geneva. I met the Finance Minister before I left, repeated my offer to settle with the banks. That is the truth," he told reporters outside a London court hearing a case for his extradition.
The verdict in the extradition case will be announced on December 10.
The Congress also said on its official Twitter handle that Mallya met Jaitley "several times" before escaping the country to discuss a settlement plan.
"In spite of this, the BJP government allowed him to flee with thousands of crores debt. Do we need anymore proof that this govt. is in the pocket of crony capitalists." Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Mallya's revelation shows that the BJP is running "a travel, tour and immigration agency for looters to settle abroad".
"Vijay Mallya left India with the country's money after a farewell from Arun Jaitley. Chowkidaar nahin, Bhagidaar hai (Not a watchman, but a partner)," he tweeted in Hindi.
With inputs from Amrita Madhukalya and PTI
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