The Central Bureau of Investigation had prior knowledge that businessman Vijay Mallya, who is facing charges of >defaulting on a Rs.900-crore loan from IDBI Bank , was to board a London-bound flight at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here on March 2.
Airport sources said the Immigration department had on the afternoon of March 2 intimated the CBI that Mr. Mallya was to board the flight. It is learnt that he arrived at the airport around 1 p.m. for the flight that was scheduled to take off at 1.45 p.m.
Even now, there is no restriction on Mr. Mallya’s foreign visits. Therefore, legally, he is allowed to go abroad. He is a non-resident Indian and has to remain abroad for at least 183 days every year to retain the status. He has a 10-year British business visa.
The Enforcement Directorate recently >filed a money-laundering case and issued summons to two former senior officials of Kingfisher Airlines, and two top former functionaries of the bank.
The information that businessman Vijay Mallya was to board a London-bound flight on March 2 was provided to the CBI in response to a lookout circular, valid for a year, the agency had sent to the exit ports across the country on October 16, 2015.
The agency recorded the immigration input, and Mr. Mallya was allowed to go abroad. “We questioned him thrice in the past few months and all the time, he had showed up,” a CBI official said.
Under the circular that carries passport details and other particulars of suspects, an agency can request the immigration department to provide information on the arrival or departure of the person concerned; seize travel documents and send them to the agency; prevent the person from entering India and inform the agency; or detain and hand over the person to the local police.
While there were reports that the agency had initially issued the circular for detention, the CBI on Thursday maintained that it was only for intimation on the arrival or departure of Mr. Mallya.
The CBI registered the case against Mr. Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines and unknown IDBI officials in July 2015 and is yet to file a charge sheet.
