It is shameful confession by Attorney General representing the government of India before the Supreme Court that bank defaulter Vijay Mallya fled the country on March 2.

Mallya was last seen in the Rajya Sabha on March 1 during the ongoing budget session, as a nominated member, amid the news reports about his bank-default and chances of fleeing the country.

It cannot happen without some serious lapses in the system.

High level enquiry should be made and guilty ones punished for Vijay Mallya fleeing the country. The government should immediately confiscate all his properties in India, and trace him. Countries where his properties are situated should also be requested to assist the government in recovering money. Parliamentary rules should be changed whereby chairpersons of both the houses may become duty-bound to assist government-agencies in catching hold of a wanted Parliamentarian.

Preventive measures should be taken including confiscating passports of bank-defaulters. Names of all bank-defaulters, having loans of Rs 100 crores and above, should be regularly published in media and websites of concerned banks in a policy of ‘name and shame’. It is indeed shocking that Vijay Malayya was given bank loans in tune of thousands of crores of rupees on his personal goodwill rather than collateral security with no strict recovery steps taken ever as his Kingfisher Airlines ran in financial trouble. Anyone with huge bank loan can easily generate a lavish lifestyle to generate ‘personal goodwill’ required for further bank loans!