CBI Man Behind Mallya Escape Helped Nirav Modi, Choksi Flee: Rahul

Here are the 10 big developments in the case against the fugitive businessman and his potential extradition to India

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday, 15 September, said that the CBI’s Joint Director AK Sharma, who “facilitated Mallya’s escape” by weakening the ‘Look Out Notice’ on him prior to his escape, was also “in charge of Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi’s escape plans”.

Gandhi added that Sharma, who is an officer from Gujarat, the Prime Minister’s home constituency, “is the PM’s blue-eyed-boy in the CBI.”

CBI Jt. Director, A K Sharma, weakened Mallya’s “Look Out” notice, allowing Mallya to escape.

Mr Sharma, a Gujarat cadre officer, is the PM’s blue-eyed-boy in the CBI.

The same officer was in charge of Nirav Modi & Mehul Choksi’s escape plans. Ooops...
investigation!

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 15, 2018

Fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya found his way back to the headlines after a fresh war of words erupted between the BJP and Congress over his claims of having met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley before he left the country.

Here are all the top developments in the case.

• In a statement on 12 September, fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya said that he had met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to “settle matters” before he left for London. Mallya claimed, “I met the finance minister before I left and repeated the offer to pay the banks.” (ANI)
• The opposition, namely the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, have accused the finance minister of “colluding” with the fugitive liquor baron, and demanded Jaitley’s resignation. (PTI)
• Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said that someone may have tipped off Mallya before he left the country, adding that it was a "big coincidence" that he left India the same day that banks moved for recovery of his debts. (NDTV)
• Arun Jaitley denied Mallya’s claims, adding that he had never met Mallya since 2014. However, Jaitley added that Mallya, using his privilege as a Member of Parliament, did “catch up with him” while he was walking in Parliament, and said, ‘I am making an offer of settlement’. (ANI)
• Meanwhile, CBI sources confirmed that the Look Out Circular (LoC) issued against Mallya in 2015, was watered down from a “detain” order to simply an “inform” order – that is, if Vijay Mallya tried to leave the country, immigration authorities were told to simply inform the Government, and not detain him, because of a “lack of adequate evidence”. (The Indian Express)

• Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday, 14 September, alleged that it was "inconceivable" that the CBI, which reports to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, would have diluted the look out notice against fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya without Modi’s approval. (IANS)
• Supreme Court Lawyer Dushyant Dave said that he had informed the State Bank of India that Mallya may flee the country and had advised the bank to obtain an order restraining Mallya from leaving, but that the bank’s top management took no action. Vijay Mallya reportedly fled the country four days after this conversation. (The Indian Express)
• State Bank of India, on 13 September, denied that there was any laxity on its part in dealing with the defaulted loans by Vijay Mallya. In a statement, the bank said, "State Bank of India (SBI) denies that there has been any laxity on its part or its officials in dealing with loan default cases, including Kingfisher Airlines. The bank has been taking proactive and strong measures to recover the defaulted amounts." (The Times of India)
• Meanwhile, Vijay Mallya’s legal conundrum continues, both in the United Kingdom and India. In the UK, a London Court has finished hearing arguments in the case for Vijay Mallya’s extradition, and has reserved the verdict for 10 December. (NDTV)

• In response to Mallya’s argument that he should be confined in a European prison since Indian jails lack ‘humane’ conditions, the Indian government sent the British Court an eight-minute video showing Barrack 12 in Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail, to assure the court that Mallya would be incarcerated in hygienic conditions that meet the standards of Europe’s Human Rights Commission. (NDTV)
• However, Vijay Mallya is unlikely to enjoy conditions like those seen in the video sent to the British Court. He will not be given any special privileges, nor treated as a high-security prisoner and kept away from other inmates, said Rajwardhan, Special Inspector General (Prisons) in Maharashtra. (The Quint)