Rahul Gandhi's allegations on officer letting Mallya escape 'baseless': CBI

New Delhi: Coming out in defence of its senior official, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Saturday termed the allegations of "allowing" fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya to escape “baseless”.

CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said the "lookout circular" was not changed "individually" but the decision was taken at the "appropriate level".

Terming the allegations against CBI Joint Director AK Sharma "baseless", spokesperson of the central investigating agency Abhishek Dayal said they have mentioned "many times" that the change in the notice against Vijay Mallya was done as there was no sufficient ground to arrest or detain him.

The CBI's response came soon after Congress President Rahul Gandhi called AK Sharma, a Gujarat cadre officer PM Modi's "blue-eyed boy".

Read: Rahul targets PM Modi's 'blue-eyed boy' for diluted Vijay Mallya notice

Earlier in the week, Rahul Gandhi had accused Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley of “colluding” with business tycoon Mallya and helping him escape the country. The Congress chief demanded Jaitley’s resignation.

Also Read: Jaitley 'lying', Cong leader saw Mallya 'talking discreetly' to FM: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader P L Puniya also claimed that he had seen Jaitley and Mallya having a “15-minute sit-down” meeting in parliament on March 1, 2016, two days before Mallya fled the country.

Earlier this week, ahead of his extradition hearing at the London’s Westminster Magistrate Court, Mallya told the media, “I left because I had a scheduled meeting in Geneva. I met the finance minister before I left, repeated my offer to settle with the banks. That is the truth."

Speaking about the PNB fraud case, the agency official said the CBI received complaint against Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi almost a month after they had left the country.

Dayal added that the "question of any CBI officer having any hand in their fleeing the country does not arise. Prompt action was taken by CBI in the case immediately after the complaint was received from the bank."

Vijay Mallya, currently in London, is being investigated for fraud and money-laundering. He has been fighting India's attempts at bringing him back to face trial for the last two years.

Both Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi are under probe by the CBI and ED. Nirav Modi left India with his family in the first week of January, weeks before the scam came to light and was reported to the CBI.