ED summons Vijay Mallya on Friday

Mallya has been ordered to come up with all the details sought by the probe agency including his income-tax returns proof

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Liquor baron Vijay Mallya was on Friday summoned to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 18, even as the beleaguered businessman asserted he was not an absconder, amid an escalating political row over how he was able to go abroad days before a consortium of banks sought impounding of his passport for allegedly defaulting on loans.

Taking forward its money laundering probe in the alleged default in payment of Rs 950-crore dues to IDBI bank by the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, the ED issued summons to Mallya for appearance in Mumbai on a day when A Raghunathan, former chief financial officer of the carrier, appeared before the investigators in Mumbai. “Summons have been issued to Mallya under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in connection with the IDBI case,” official sources said.

The sources said Mallya has also been asked to furnish documents related to his personal finances. “We had summoned Raghunathan and he appeared before us for questioning this morning. His questioning is important to throw light on various financial transactions,” said an ED official.

Mallya has been asked to come up with details like his income-tax returns and the assets he owns. Mallya left India for London on March 2 — just days before Indian banks moved the Supreme Court seeking action against him.

His departure has triggered a war of words between Narendra Modi-led government and the Opposition.

Mallya, who is facing legal proceedings for alleged loan defaults by his group to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore, took on the media and said he will comply with Indian laws. “I am an international businessman. I travel to and from India frequently. I did not flee from India and neither am I an absconder. Rubbish,” Mallya tweeted. He further said: “As an Indian MP I fully respect and will comply with the law of the land. Our judicial system is sound and respected. But no trial by media.”

TWEETS BY @THEVIJAYMALLYA

I am an international businessman. I travel to and from India frequently. I did not flee from India and neither am I an absconder. Rubbish

As an Indian MP I fully respect and will comply with the law of the land. Our judicial system is sound and respected. But no trial by media

Let media bosses not forget help, favours, accommodation that I have provided over several years which are documented. Now lies to gain TRP

News reports that I must declare my assets. Does that mean that Banks did not know my assets or look at my Parliamentary disclosures

Once a media witch hunt starts it escalates into a raging fire where truth and facts are burnt to ashes

Apart from Raghunathan, the ED also interrogated Ravi Nedungadi, chief financial officer of United Breweries. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is also probing the IDBI Bank case. At the same time, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office is probing the collapse of Kingfisher Airlines and the money trail.

Apart from Kingfisher officials, Yogesh Agarwal, former chairman and managing director of IDBI Bank, and a few IDBI Bank officials, who were part of the credit committee, have also been summoned by the ED. The ED is likely to interrogate Agarwal on Saturday. Kingfisher Airline had shut shop in October 2012.

The ED is also looking into the “proceeds of crime” under the stringent Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). According to sources, the ED is probing whether some of the loan amount was illegally sent overseas.

While the ED continued its investigation in Mumbai, the Mallya scandal rocked the Parliament. Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad asked the government why the CBI amended its ‘lookout’ notice against Mallya from ‘detention’ in October 2015 to just ‘inform’ in November. “What made the CBI change its original notice?” asked Azad. He also accused the government of helping Mallya, who was elected to Rajya Sabha in 2010 with the help of JD (U) and BJP, leave India.

The government also came under fire from its allies. “While poor farmers are driven to commit suicide when they fail to pay off loans obtained by staking their homes and holdings for small loans ranging from Rs 25,000-50,000, but the laws do not seem to apply to Lalit Modi and Mallya,” Shiv Sena wrote in an editorial in Saamna newspaper.