Jaitley was the Finance Minister in 2016 when the Kingfisher Airline chief fled India
Vijay Mallya created a political storm on Wednesday when he said that he met Arun Jaitley before he fled the country. The Opposition raised a storm with Congress president Rahul Gandhi demanding the Finance Minister's resignation, but Jaitley released a statement denying having ever formally meeting the fugitive tycoon. Mallya then quickly claimed the media had misrepresented facts.
Jaitley was the Finance Minister in 2016 when the Kingfisher Airline chief fled India. On Tuesday, Mallya appeared before a court in London for a hearing in an extradition case.
Soon after his hearing outside Westminster Magistrates' Court in London court, Mallya told reporters that he had met with the Finance Minister to speak about a settlement. "I left because I had a scheduled meeting in Geneva. I met the Finance Minister before I left and repeated my offer to settle with the banks. That's the truth," he said. Mallya reiterated that he had the means to offer a settlement.
Jaitley refuted his claims and said that nothing could be further from the truth. "Since 2014, I have never given him any appointment and the question of his having met me does not arise," he said. Jaitley added that since Mallya was a member of the Rajya Sabha, he had "misused the privilege" on one occasion.
"While I was walking out of the House, he paced up to catch up with me and while walking, uttered, 'I am making an offer of settlement'. Having been fully briefed about his earlier bluff offers, I cut short the conversation and curtly told him that there is no point talking to me and he must make offers to his bankers. I did not even accept the papers he was holding in his hand," Jaitley told reporters.
He also wrote a detailed description of the incident on his blog.
This prompted Mallya to clarify that he did not have a "scheduled meeting" with the BJP leader, but "happened to meet him". He, however, added that he had told Jaitley that he was leaving for London.
Jaitley's clarification didn't cool political tempers. "Given Vijay Mallya's extremely serious allegations in London today," said Gandhi on Twitter, "the PM should immediately order an independent probe into the matter. Arun Jaitley should step down as Finance Minister while this probe is underway."
Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala too slammed the BJP in a tweet saying, "After Mallya reveals his 'consultation meetings', before his smooth escape, with Fiscal Mismanagement Blog Minister Sh Jaitley — one thing is clear — BJP is running "tour travels & immigration" agency for [the] "loot scoot & settle abroad" brigade."
Party colleague Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that question remains on how Mallya could leave even though everyone knew of his debts and non-performing assets (NPAs). "Congress has been repeatedly asserting for over 18 months that not only Vijay Mallya but Nirav Modi, (Mehul) Choksi and many others have been allowed to flee with impunity," Singhvi added. The Congress further demanded that the government reveal details of Mallya's meetings with Jaitley.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal attacked the BJP-led government on Twitter saying, "PM Modi meets Nirav Modi before he flees the country. FM meets Vijay Mallya before he flees India. What transpired in these meetings? People want to know."
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