Rahul Gandhi: Arun Jaitley colluded with Mallya to let him flee

Rahul Gandhi

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley of "colluding" with fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya to help him flee the country and demanded his resignation.

He asked why had Jaitley not informed the investigative agencies about his meeting with Mallya.

"The Finance Minister talks to an absconder (Mallya), and the absconder tells the Finance Minister 'I am going to London'. Yet the Minister neither tells the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) or the police. Why?" Gandhi told the media at the party headquarters here.

"He was given a free passage to leave the country by Jaitley," said Gandhi and alleged that the logistics of Mallya going out of the country were discussed at that meeting.

"The Finance Minister has colluded with a criminal planning to run away from the country," he said.

However, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday rejected Vijay Mallya's claim that the fugitive businessman met him before he left India two years ago.

"My attention has been drawn to a statement made to the media by Vijay Mallya on having met me with an offer of settlement. The statement is factually false inasmuch as it does not reflect truth," he said in a Facebook post shortly after the fugitive businessman made the claim outside a London court where he is facing extradition trial.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also, download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates