 "Rajya Sabha ethics panel recommends Vijay Mallya's expulsion")
The Ethics Committee of the Rajya Sabha on Monday unanimously agreed that liquor baron Vijay Mallya, wanted for defaulting bank loans to the tune of Rs.9,000 crore, should be expelled from the upper house of parliament.
Mallya, an independent member of the house from Karnataka, has, however, been given a week's time, and a final decision will be taken when the committee meets on May 3.
Rajya Sabha Ethics Committee chairman Karan Singh said that they will send Mallya a mail, and he will be given a week's time to respond.
"It has been decided that he should be expelled. All members agreed to it," Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader Sharad Yadav told reporters after a meeting of the committee, where Mallya's case was discussed.
Karan Singh said, "We reviewed the whole situation. We will give him a week's time so that he can say what he has to say. The committee will meet again on May 3."
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury spoke on similar lines.
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"The opinion of members is very clear, he should be expelled," he said.
According to sources, in the discussions the committee was made aware that for around 10 years as a member of the Rajya Sabha, Mallya had been declaring his assets and liabilities as "nil".
"This is a blatant lie. He lied to the house and action will be taken," a committee member said.
In the meeting, the issue of revocation of Mallya's passport was also taken up.
"It was raised in the meeting, and some members felt it only meant giving him a free run. The UK government may not agree on deporting him, and he can even get a British citizenship," sources said.
The government revoked Mallya's passport on Sunday after he failed to turn up for a probe into a Rs.9,431 crore default of loans from Indian banks. This has set in the motion the process for the billionaire's possible deportation from Britain, where he is staying at present.