Last couple of days Mallaya has said that he met Finance Minister before leaving India. CBI has admitted that it diluted the lookout notice against Mallaya, and BJP still find voice to blame Congress.
In what can be called as logic defying, uninspired defense of bureaucratic ineptitude BJP is trying its best to stand tall. Even as the PM tries to take credit for hard work of every road side vendor, his CBI has said on Thursday the change in a 2015 Look Out Circular against liquor baron Vijay Mallya from “detain” to merely informing about his movements was an “error” in judgment because he was cooperating in the probe and there was no warrant against him.
Day before Mallaya claimed that he met finance minister and that he offered to settle a deal. To which Arun Jaitley relied
The statement of Vijay Mallaya that he met me & offered settlement is factually false in as much as it does not reflect truth. Since 2014, I have never given him any appointment to meet me and the question of his having met me does not arise.
— Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) September 12, 2018
I did not even receive the papers that he was holding in his hand. Besides this one sentence exchange where he misused his privilege as a RS Member to further his commercial interest as a bank debtor, there is no question of my having ever given him an appointment to meet me.
— Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) September 12, 2018
While we do not have any doubts that Mr Mallya slipped through the cracks we are also sure that the political slugfest over his escape is missing the point. NDTV reported today that Government’s top law officer, Mukul Rohatgi, has remarked that it is a “big coincidence” that Vijay Mallya left India on the day a group of banks moved to recover his debts. It was possible that “someone could have tipped off Mallya”.
Government has failed to arrest escape of nations top economic offenders and its agencies remain toothless to reverse the tide. Perhaps the caged parrot is not not caged, its asleep too.
