More embarrassment is in store for liquor baron Vijay Mallya with a Rajya Sabha panel unanimously favouring his expulsion from Parliament over Rs 9,431.65 crore loan default.
Rajya Sabha Ethics Committee, led by senior Congress MP Karan Singh, has given the independent Member of Parliament from Karnataka one week to explain his position though some members described it as a “procedural formality” before the imminent action.
“We have examined the entire issue related to Mallya’s case. The documents that we had sought from banks have also come. There was a unanimous view in the panel that he should be expelled from the House membership. But still we have decided to give him a week to tell us whatever he has to say,” Singh told reporters after an hour long meeting.
The Ethics Committee will now meet on May 3 to consider Mallya’s case, whose Rajya Sabha term ends in June.
Senior Janata Dal (United) MP Sharad Yadav said that Mallya should be expelled from the Rajya Sabha. “His membership is almost gone now. This is the firm view of the committee. It is final that his membership will go. He has been given the time to complete the procedure,” he said.
The view was echoed by top CPM MP Sitaram Yechury, who said Mallya has no right to remain a member of the Rajya Sabha. A senior member of the panel said the worst part is that Mallya said he had no liabilities in his declaration of assets and liabilities given every year to Parliament.
“Then we get all these documents of him having such liabilities,” he said.
Published 25 April 2016, 20:46 IST