Rahul Gandhi: CBI changing notice against Mallya without PM's approval inconceivable

New Delhi, Sep 14 Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday charged that the CBI had aided fugitive tycoon Vijay Mallya's "great escape" by changing the "detain" notice to "advise", including that it was "inconceivable" that this was managed without Prime Minister Narendra Modi's approval.

Allegations have flown thick and fast between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the Mallya episode, following the liquor baron's claim on Wednesday that he had met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley before leaving for the UK.

"Mallya's Great Escape was aided by the CBI quietly changing the 'Detain' notice for him, to 'Illuminate'. The CBI reports straightforwardly to the PM. It is unfathomable that the CBI, in such a prominent, disputable case, would change a post see without the endorsement of the PM (sic)," the Congress boss tweeted.

Gandhi on Thursday blamed Jaitley for lying to hide the "free passage" he supposedly provided for Mallya to escape to London, while the decision party counter-guaranteed that the Gandhi family had attempted to rescue the sinking Kingfisher Airlines with a "sweet deal".

Congress leader P L Punia on Thursday asserted that he had seen Jaitley in "an intricate 15-20 minute gathering" with Mallya on March 1, 2016, multi day before the representative left India.

Mallya's claim in London had drawn a rejoinder from Jaitley, who said he never gave any arrangement to the criminal alcohol noble yet the last used his benefit as a MP to greet him once in Parliament.

Immediately after Jaitley's rebuttal on Wednesday, Mallya appeared to tone down the seriousness of his remarks, saying it was "not reasonable" to create a controversy over the issue as it was anything but a "formal meeting" and he had just "happened to meet" the finance minister.