Indian parliament rejects Mallya's resignation

India's vice president and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha upper house, Hamid Ansari, dismissed Mallya's letter of resignation on Tuesday. His aide, Gurdeep Singh Sappal, posted the decision on Twitter.

"His resignation letter does not conform to procedures and does not bear signature in original," Sappal also said.

Indian media said Ansari's stance indicated that the Indian parliament's ethics committee wanted to expel Mallya rather than let him resign. The committee had already voted to remove the man and asked him to explain his conduct.

Mallya submitted his letter of resignation on Monday, saying the charges against him were "false and baseless" and that he did not want his name to be "further dragged in the mud."

The Indian billionaire is the owner of United Breweries, which produces Kingfisher beer, and part-owner of the Force India Formula 1 team. The tycoon also ran Kingfisher Airlines, which closed down in 2012, unable to pay debts worth millions of dollars. Sometimes dubbed the "King of Good Times," Mallya represented his home state, Karnataka, in the Rajya Sabha in 2002 and in 2010. His term would have expired this year.

He left India in March, owing more than $1 billion to various banks. His passport was revoked last week, after he failed to appear before investigators examining financial irregularities in his airlines.

In April, Indian officials issued an arrest warrant against the billionaire, who is currently believed to be in Britain. Indian authorities have requested an extradition.

mg/msh (AFP, PTI)