After Rahul Gandhi's Digs Over Mallya, Jaitley Asks 'What About Quattrocchi'?

New Delhi: After clashes in Parliament, a wordy duel was fought outside when Rahul Gandhi attacked the government asking, "How did they allow Vijay Mallya, who owes 9,000 crore to banks, to flee?"

"There is a lawful procedure to this. Rahul must understand that there is a difference between Quattrocchi escaping and Vijay Mallya escaping," shot back Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, referring to Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, an alleged middleman in the controversial Bofors deal of the 1980s.

Mr Quattrocchi had left India in July 1993 before he could be detained and the BJP has always accused the Congress, then in power, of letting him get away without facing action.

Rahul Gandhi's attack over liquor baron Vijay Mallya leaving the country in the middle of attempts to recover unpaid loans that he owes to 17 banks came minutes after his mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi led her party in a walkout from the Lok Sabha for not being allowed to speak on the issue.

He linked Mr Mallya's departure to his attack last week on the government when he christened its new scheme to recover black or untaxed money as the "fair and lovely scheme."

"This person stole Rs 9,000 crore. How did he manage to run away from India? We haven't got a reply from either Modiji or Jaitleyji. The Fair and Lovely scheme is for thieves and black marketers and the drug mafia. Whoever wants to convert their money from black to white, they can do it through the Fair and Lovely scheme," the Congress vice-president alleged.