No 'Honorable' exit for Vijay Mallya

Liquor baron Vijay Mallya cannot have the last laugh by resigning from the Rajya Sabha membership at his own will. He looks destined to be terminated.

Ruining Mallya's chance to seek honorable exit, chairman of the Upper House, Vice President Hamid Ansari rejected his resignation on procedural grounds on Tuesday, a day before the ethics committee was to take a final decision on his expulsion after serving him show notice to explain his conduct in money laundering case and why his membership not be terminated from Rajya Sabha.

The Rajya Sabha secretariat said Mallya has been informed that his resignation letter does not conform to prescribed procedures and the original does not even bear his signature.

According to the procedure, the chairman needs to verify the resignation letter that should either be handed over personally or should be delivered through a person having an authorisation letter from the member.

Mallya is wanted by several Indian banks for over Rs 9,000 crore unpaid loans and is being hounded by the investigative agencies.

In his resignation letter Mallya had said, "Since recent events suggest that I will not get a fair trial or justice, I am hereby resigning as a member of the Rajya Sabha with immediate effect."