Vijay Mallya's Resignation From Rajya Sabha Rejected

New Delhi: Liquor baron Vijay Mallya's attempt to escape punitive action in form of expulsion by a Parliament panel on charges of "conduct unbecoming of a MP," by resigning has run into trouble. Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari, who received Mr Mallya's resignation, has rejected it on technical grounds.

In a reply sent to Mr Mallya, the secretary general of Rajya Sabha, Shamsher Sharif, said his resignation does not conform to the prescribed procedures, the original does not even bear his signature.

This means trouble for Mr Mallya, as earlier on Tuesday, the Rajya Sabha ethics committee which was scrutinising complaints against him, had recommended that he should be expelled from the house of Elders.

The report of the Committee is tabled in the House not submitted to the chair. Thus the lawmakers' can push for taking up the expulsion issue soonest. Though Mr Mallya's second term as lawmaker ends in June, only a month away, an expulsion will mean serious embarrassment for him.

Mr Mallya had left India on March 2, one day before a consortium of banks moved the BSC against him to recover over Rs 9,000 crore in unpaid loans.

While last week the ethics committee had in principle had decided to expel him, a letter was sent seeking his comments. Mr Mallya, according to the committee members, sent a terse note claiming he doesn't expect a fair trial.

In his resignation letter to the chairman of Rajya Sabha, he had said he didn't want his name and reputation to be "further dragged in the mud". "Since recent events suggest that I will not get a fair trial or justice, I am hereby resigning as a member of the Rajya Sabha with immediate effect," he had written.

The government has already cancelled Mr Mallya's passport.