In a mockery of criminal investigation into the multi-crore loan default case against beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya, the CBI on Friday claimed the first look-out circular seeking to detain the alleged loan defaulter was issued by an “inadvertent mistake”.
The first look-out circular was issued on October 16, 2015, and was ticked for detention of Mallya “inadvertently,” agency sources claimed.
The so called mistake was “rectified” on November 23, 2015, the date on which Mallya was flying from london to Mumbai, and a new lookout circular was issued on November 23 itself so that the controversial businessman could not be detained by the immigration authorities. The second look out circular did not seek detention but only sought information on movement of Mallya, the sources said.
The amendment to the first look-out circular came even as the probe into the Rs 9,000 crore loan default case is still incomplete and there was every likelihood of Mallya fleeing the country, the sources admitted.
Sources, however, claimed the agency still trusted Mallya as he had appeared for questioning at the CBI headquarters in Delhi on December 9 and 10 for questioning and also appeared for examination on December 12 at the agency’s office in Mumbai. The CBI also claimed that Mallya had furnished all the documents required during the course of the probe so far.
On a question if action is being taken against the officials who made the “mistake” in issuing a “wrong” look out circular, the sources said the qualifier “inadvertent” before the mistake speaks for itself. However, the matter is being examined, the sources added.