Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday accepted fresh resignation of liquor baron and Independent MP Vijay Mallya after he sent a fresh letter under his signature, a day after his scanned offer was rejected on procedural grounds.
Announcing the decision in the House, Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said a resignation letter of Mallya dated May 3 was received by the Chairman.
"He has accepted his resignation effective from today, May 4," Kurien said about the independent member from Karnataka.
Mallya is accused of defaulting on more than Rs 9,000 crore in loans he had taken from a consortium of banks. He left India on March 2 and is believed to be in the United Kingdom. His passport has been revoked after he failed to appear for three consecutive summons by the Enforcement Directorate.
In an apparent attempt to pre-empt his expulsion, Mallya wrote to Chairman Hamid Ansari on Tuesday seeking to resign from the house because he did not want his "name and reputation to be further dragged in mud".
However, Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari had on Tuesday turned down his resignation on procedural grounds while the Ethics Committee also found loopholes in his defence and decided to recommend his expulsion after having examined his reply.
Mallya, in his letter in response to the panel's offer to explain his position, "has raised some legal and constitutional issues which are not tenable, because the Supreme Court has clearly upheld the power of the Rajya Sabha to expel its members for gross misconduct unbecoming of a Member of the House", the Ethics panel report said.
The panel said "it is a matter of regret that Dr Mallya has thought it fit to impugn the (Supreme Court) judgment and impartiality of the Committee on Ethics as well as the entire House."
The issue was raised in Rajya Sabha on March 19 during which a demand was raised to refer the matter to Ethics Committee. On March 14, Ansari referred the matter to the panel. In its first meeting on the same day, the committee called for basic information from the ministries and agencies concerned on the loan default matter.
