Mallya row: PM must answer as CBI 'directly' under him, says Kejriwal

Amid the controversy surrounding liquor baron Vijay Mallya, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday put the onus on Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) could not have let the bureaucrat leave the country without the former's approval as they directly report to him.

"Since CBI directly reports to PM, PM owes an answer why Mallya was allowed to leave India. CBI cudn't hv allowed without approval from top," Kejriwal tweeted.

Earlier, the CBI admitted that the first lookout notice for Mallya's detention at the country's exit points was issued in error.

"The detention order issued against Vijay Mallya by CBI was an error by a lower level officer," the CBI said.

The investigation agency also informed that Mallya had joined questioning on December 9, 2015 and 10 in New Delhi and on December 12 in Mumbai.

The agency was accused of changing the nature of lookout notice against Mallya within one month of issuance from seeking his detention while leaving the country to that merely providing information about his travel plans.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Mallya to appear before the agency next Friday (March 18) for questioning in the ongoing probe into a money-laundering case.

Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, yesterday accused the NDA Government of helping Mallya escape India.

The Supreme Court had on Wednesday brushed aside a plea by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi to direct Mallya to appear personally before the court to force him to come back to India.

The case will be next heard on March 30.

Earlier today, employees of Mallya's now defunct Kingfisher Airlines wrote a letter to Prime Minister Modi in a 'humanitarian' appeal, seeking his intervention in safeguarding the interest of the employees.

Highlighting their humanitarian plight as they have not been paid their dues including salaries and statutory dues like the Provident Fund and Gratuity, the employees state in the letter that they are also being hounded by Income Tax notices although the tax default is from the side of the Airlines.