Jaitley-Mallya 'meeting': Kejriwal calls it 'absolutely shocking'

Arvind Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday called the 'meeting' of fugitive business tycoon Vijay Mallya and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley "absolutely shocking". Mallya, who was wanted in India for his alleged role in a multi-crore bank loan fraud case, on Wednesday claimed that he met Jaitley before leaving India in 2016. However, Jaitley rejected Mallya's claim that they met two years ago.

"Finance Minister ought to respond. Obviously, PM knew about it," Kejriwal said. In a series of tweets, Kejriwal first called the meeting "absolutely shocking" and later questioned the Finance Minister for hiding this information. "PM Modi meets Nirav Modi before he flees the country. FM meets Vijay Mallya before he flees India. What transpired in these meetings? People want to know," Kejriwal said.

"Why did the Finance Minister hide this information till now?" he added. Former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha tweeted saying "entire BJP must come clean on its relations with Mallya."

Senior Supreme Court lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan blamed CBI for lowering its lookout notice. "Mallya says he met Jaitley to offer a settlement and told him he was going abroad. Jaitley says no particular settlement was offered. Whatever the truth, there is no denying that CBI lowered its lookout notice from 'detain' to 'inform', to allow his escape," Bhushan said.

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