Sitharaman slams Congress for asking banks to give loans to Mallya

New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS) Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday hit out at the previous Congress-led UPA government for asking the banks to continue giving loans to fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya.

"One thing is clear, even after Kingfisher Airlines was closed in 2011, loans were generously being given. The RBI was issuing letters," Sitharaman said while interacting with feamle journalists here.

She was responding to a question related to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) shifting its stance on the change in the Lookout Notice (LOC) against Mallya from "detention" to "inform".

Slamming the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for not acting against the liquor baron, Sitharaman questioned: "Why did the legal process not get going to get the money back? Is it not time for them (Congress) to come clean on it?" 

The Defence Minister said that she cannot comment on the CBI changing its stance on the LOC against Mallya. 

"I understand that there is a high court ruling from Kolkata on how he could or could not have been detained in India. There are several sides to it...and all of us will have to be on board before concluding whether the Lookout Notice was diluted or was it right to have it diluted," she said. 

Earlier, the CBI has clarified that the first Lookout Circular (LOC) against Mallya for his detention at airports in 2015 was changed, as there was "no sufficient ground" for his arrest.

The CBI officials later wrote to the Immigration Department to seek modification in the LOC as "Mallya was cooperating" in the probe and the agency was still collecting evidence from banks.

The first LOC against Mallya was issued on October 16, 2015. The second LOC was issued on November 24, 2015, the day Mallya returned from the United Kingdom.

The chief of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines escaped from India on March 2, 2016. 

He is currently in London where a court finished hearing on India's extradition case against him on Wednesday and is due to pronounce its verdict on December 10.