Rajya Sabha panel takes cognizance of Mallya's case

New Delhi, March 14  The Ethics Committee of the Rajya Sabha on Monday took cognizance of the issue of Vijay Mallya, an Independent member of the upper house and business tycoon accused of defaulting on bank loans totalling Rs.9,000 crore.

Without spelling out the course of action, committee chairman Karan Singh told reporters that more meetings of the panel will be held to discuss the issue.

"The ethics committee meeting was fixed over some other issues. This morning, we got a file from Rajya Sabha Chairman (M. Hamid Ansari). There were two other issues, but we looked into this issue as well. We have taken cognizance," he said.

The Congress leader said more meetings of the committee will be held before a decision on the matter, but refused to speak on the likely course of action.

"We will proceed as per the rules," he said.

Mallya, elected to the upper house from Karnataka, is set to retire on June 30.

A consortium of 17 banks led by the State Bank of India had sought the Supreme Court's intervention to restrain the business tycoon from leaving the country, his arrest and impounding of his passport.

The court was, however, informed that Mallya had left India on March 2.