Jaitley-Mallya 'meeting': Kejriwal calls it 'absolutely shocking'
New Delhi, Sep 12 : 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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17,969 acres Wakf property encroached in Karnataka, mostly by Muslims: Minister Khan
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Minister for Wakf & Minority Welfare B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan told the Legislative Assembly on Monday that 17,969 acres of Wakf property have been encroached upon in the state, mostly by Muslims themselves.
The minister was responding to a question by Afzalpur Congress MLA M Y Patil during the Question Hour.
"Total Wakf property across the state is 1,12,860 acres, out of which only 20,054 acres is in our hands. As many as 17,969 acres have been encroached, 47,263 acres have gone under the Inam Abolition Act and 23,627 acres have gone under the Land Reforms Act," Khan said.
He said that after the Congress government came to power and he became the department's minister, Wakf Adalats were held across the state aimed at removing encroachments.
Noting that 1,12,860 acres of Wakf land were given not by the government, but by private individuals and organisations for the welfare of the community, the minister said encroachments on Wakf property are mostly by the Muslim community itself, not by temples or other communities.
"Encroachments on Wakf land are not by others, they are done by Muslims themselves. Wakf Adalats were held to remove those encroachments, but the BJP made it an issue," he said, adding that encroachment issues are being resolved.
Leader of Opposition R Ashoka intervened and said the BJP's objections were not about removing encroachments by Muslims on Wakf land, but about farmers' land, land belonging to schools such as the one studied by Bharat Ratna Sir M Visvesvaraya, and in some cases land belonging to temples, among others, being claimed as Wakf land.
The BJP is in fact in favour of an investigation into the encroachment of Wakf properties, he said.
Responding to this, the minister clarified that the government is not laying hands on any temples or educational institutions by claiming them as Wakf property.
"To identify encroachments by private people, mostly Muslims, Wakf Adalats were held," he added.
