Vijay Mallya takes it double & not-so neat

Under the Representation of People Act, an Indian citizen can contest Rajya Sabha elections provided he is ‘‘ordinarily resident’’ which, the Election Commission says, has not been defined but loosely includes anyone on the voter’s list.

An amendment in 1966 stipulated that rules on the term be made by the Centre in consultation with the Election Commission. But so far, none have been initiated.

However, another parliamentary act defines ‘‘ordinarily resident’’. Section 6 of the Income Tax Act of 1961 says an individual is ‘‘ordinarily resident’’ if he/she’s been residing in India for nine out of previous 10 years and, in addition, has been in India for a total of 730 days or more in the previous seven years.

Mallya claimed that he fulfilled the EC norms when objections were raised by BJP opponent Taradevi Siddartha to his candidature on grounds of his resident status.

A southern daily quoted him as saying in March that ‘‘I have duly and validly registered as voter in Karnataka and this position was accepted when I contested the polls in 2000. My status has not changed since the last time I contested the election to the Rajya Sabha and, therefore, there is no justification for this objection.’’

The EC, guided only by the RPA, upheld Mallya’s nomination papers on grounds that his name was in the voters’ list.

What Mallya did not tell the Returning Officer was that he took a different position in 2000 while deposing before Enforcement Directorate for alleged breach of Sections 47(1)&(2), 9(1)(c) and 8(1) of FERA.

In his statements to ED on April 2 and 26, May 3 and November 20 of 2000, Mallya claimed that ‘‘he has been a person resident in Dubai since 1988.’’

On that ground, the ED struck down in January its show-cause notice against Mallya of any FERA violation in paying $1 million to Benetton Formula Ltd from his monies held abroad.

As an NRI, Mallya is also eligible for privileges such as tax exemptions, better deposit rates and lower borrowing rates.

And as a parliamentarian, he is qualified to join policymakers in Standing and Consultative committees, as well as Finance Ministry’s Central Direct Taxes Advisory Committee dealing with income tax, wealth tax, gift tax, expenditure tax etc.

Telephone calls and faxes to get Mallya’s replies proved futile since the MP, according to his spokesman, was in Dubai.