New Delhi: Congress today took a dim view of the suspension of the diplomatic passport of beleaguered industrialist Vijay Mallya whose Kingfisher Airlines has defaulted on loans of over Rs 9,400 crores, saying why did government allow him to leave the country in the first place.
If Mallya’s case was so sensitive, why did the government allow him to “run away” in the first place, party spokesman Manish Tewari said. Talking to reporters, he also raked up the Lalit Modi controversy wondering why External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj ensured that the ex-IPL chief got travel documents in London for his worldwide travel despite being an Indian “fugitive”.
“This showed the double standards of this government”, he alleged. Tewari alleged that the Centre deliberately allowed Mallya to go to Britain as several high ups in the government would have been exposed if he had stayed in India. Mallya today suffered a major blow when his diplomatic passport was suspended by the government which has threatened to revoke it.
To add to his problems, Enforcement Directorate, which is probing money laundering charges against the flamboyant 60-year-old liquor baron, today moved a special PMLA court in Mumbai seeking a non-bailable warrant against him in connection with a Rs 900 crore IDBI loan fraud case. The passport of Mallya, who is an MP and has been in Britain for over a month and refused to appear before ED, was suspended by the External Affairs Ministry on the recommendation of the agency.
PTI