After rejecting Vijay Mallya’s resignation on May 4, the Rajya Sabha Ethics Committee has recommended his expulsion with immediate effect.
Mallya, who submitted his resignation on May 3, was bitter in his letter to the House panel.
“The committee was of the firm view that taking into consideration the gravity of the misconduct, a sanction not less than termination of membership from the House is warranted under the circumstances,” the Committee on Ethics said in its 10th report tabled in the Upper House by its Chairman Karan Singh.
The Upper House will now take a call on the recommendation made by the ethics committee in the report.
Mallya has defaulted on more than Rs. 9,000 crores in loanstaken from 17 banks. He left India on March 2 and is believed to be in the UK. After failing to appear for three consecutive summons by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the external affairs ministry also revoked Mallya’s diplomatic passport.
Mr. Mallya, flamboyant liquor baron, was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2002 and again in 2010, both as an independent, with his current term set to end on June 30.
He has been declared a fugitive by India for ignoring orders to meet with banks and investigators who have charged him with money-laundering.
“Hamid Ansari, Chairman, Rajya Sabha does not accept the resignation of Vijay Mallya. Secretary General, Rajya Sabha writes to Sh. Mallya that his resignation letter does not conform to prescribed procedures & does not bear signature in original. As per Rule 213 of RS procedures, the resignation must be voluntary and genuine,” Ansari’s Officer on Special Duty Gurdeep Singh Sappal said on Twitter quoting from the Secretary General’s letter.
From his home in Britain, the 60-year-old businessman had sent a scanned copy of the resignation to Ansari in a bid to avoid expulsion, saying he did not want his “name and reputation to be further dragged in mud”.
