Shia Waqf Board Chairman Waseem Rizvi has claimed that when he wanted to lodge an FIR against Vijay Mallya for encroachment of board land, Rahul Gandhi and Ghulam Nabi Azad pressurized him not to do so. Speaking to ANI, Rizvi stated that Vijay Mallya was allegedly running an illegal liquor factory in Meerut on a property that belonged to the Shia Waqf Board.
#WATCH: Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board chairman Waseem Rizvi claims that Rahul Gandhi and Ghulam Nabi Azad put pressure on him to not complain against Vijay Mallya who Rizvi says had encroached upon a Shia Waqf Board property near Meerut. pic.twitter.com/MnJBmJZAR7
— ANI (@ANI) September 13, 2018
Rizvi has further stated that when he got to know about the encroachment, he sent a notice to Mallya on behalf of the Waqf board and wanted to initiate legal action against him. He further stated that the then SSP of Meerut had flatly declined to lodge an FIR against Vijay Mallya. When he tried to complain to higher authorities regarding the matter, he received a call from senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad who made him talk to Rahul Gandhi over the phone. Rizvi added that Rahul Gandhi had told him that Vijay Mallya is a decent man and Rizvi should not initiate action against him.
Rizvi further adds that he had tried to complaint to many persons including the then chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh that the state administration is being pressurized not to lodge an FIR against Vijay Mallya, but his efforts were fruitless.
Rizvi’s statement comes at the wake of Congress President Rahul Gandhi claiming that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had struck a deal with Vijay Mallya and did not inform the authorities of his planned escape from the country. The Congress and the BJP had been in a fierce verbal battle after over the issue after a Congress leader claimed that he had seen Arun Jaitley speaking to Mallya near the central hall of parliament just prior to his escape from the country. BJP had denied the accusations and had blamed the Congress of working in tandem with Vijay Mallya. Arun Jaitley had also denied the allegations and stated that he had never given any appointment to Mallya and Mallya had only abused his privileges as an MP and tried to talk to him outside Parliament but he had brushed him off and asked him to attempt talking to his bankers instead of him.
