Business Standard: New Delhi: Thursday,
May 05, 2016.
The
UB Group of liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who resigned from the Rajya Sabha after
defaulting on debts of Rs.9,000 crore to Indian banks, was sharply rapped by a
parliamentary panel four decades ago for illegally importing worm-infested
Australian hops that would have played havoc with the country's agriculture, a
reply to an RTI querry by IANS has revealed.
"How
a private brewery could get clearance from both the ministries of commerce and
agriculture and make a daring attempt to smuggle in, in a way, infested hop
cuttings by air without the necessary permits from the Directorate of Plant
Protection, Quarantine and Storage is a matter which calls for a thorough
investigation with a view to fixing individual responsibility. The matter
should be referred to Central Vigilance Commission," the Public Accounts
Committee said in its 136th report on February 25, 1975.
The
report, however, was never made public.
Enquiries
reveal that after more than four decades, no action was taken against anyone,
in spite of the strongly-worded report. Only the Quarantine Act was amended to
prevent such frauds.
The
committee, headed by then Lok Sabha member from West Bengal Jyotirmoy Basu of
the CPI-M, was informed by the finance ministry that a consignment of hop plant
root cuttings (12,000 numbers) packed in six cases was off-loaded at the Palam
airport of New Delhi on May 19, 1974, from an Air India plane. After
examination, the consignment was destroyed.
Hop
plants are used to add flavour and improve beer quality. The consignment was
imported by United Breweries, which at that time was headed by Mallya's father,
Vittal.
The
committee had taken cognizance of a news item that the import of worm-infested
hop plants posed a threat to the Indian farming. It had also examined the
representatives of the ministries of commerce and agriculture. The report is,
however, silent on why exactly the plants were sought to be imported.
The
PAC observed that the case had thoroughly exposed the ineffectiveness of the
age-old and outdated legislation and the governmental machinery, and the
loopholes in the regulatory measures promulgated by the Indian government from
time to time to prevent the import of infested plants with a great potential
hazard.
The
report said the panel was "informed that the government of India is
examining the question of imposition of penalties in respect of the transaction
of import of hop plants in contravention of the provisions of the Destructive
Insects and Pests (DIP) Act and that they are also examining the need for a
comprehensive revision of the act."
The
committee said India had written to Australia, pointing out that the
consignment in question was not accompanied by a certificate saying it was free
from injurious diseases.
Mallya,
facing a fresh trouble, is currently living in the United Kingdom. His passport
was revoked last month after he ignored at least three summons from the
Enforcement Directorate for a probe into his Rs.9,000 crore default.
The
industrialist, an independent Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, says he has
been forced into exile.
He
sent a resignation letter to house Chairman Hamid Ansari that was accepted on
Wednesday even as a parliamentary ethics panel had recommended that his Rajya
Sabha membership be revoked with immediate effect.
.JPG)
.JPG)
