Industrialist and former IPL Chairman Lalit Modi on Thursday launched a blistering attack against Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and accused him of lying on Vijay Mallya’s claims to meet him before leaving India.

Taking to his Instagram page, Lalit Modi addressed Jaitley as a snake. He wrote, “The denial by @arunjaitleyofficial whether he met #vjm just before he left is completely #untrue. He met him. He discussed. Let him just accept he did.

“Why such a #denial when a lot of people know he met and who else was present. #arunjaitley it’s become a #habit to #lie. What else can u #expect from a?‬. If the #snake does not admit it – the next salvo will prove he did. So better #snake @arunjaitleyofficial u answer – stop your nonsensical #denial and behave for once with a little #dignity.”

Modi went on to remind the finance minister about karma warning that God ‘will teach you a lesson soon.’ He wrote, “So #habitual #liar make #peace on #earth before time runs out. As it does for all of us. Only thing is you were never a good lawyer or cricket administrator and at worst the only #politician who never won his owns seat. So wake up. Tell the truth.”

He concluded his by calling Jaitley the worst finance minister ‘one has seen.’

Modi’s stinging comments came hours after Congress President Rahul Gandhi too said that the finance minister was lying. He told reporters in Delhi on Thursday, “The Finance Minister talks to an absconder (Mallya), and the absconder tells the Finance Minister ‘I am going to London’. Yet the Minister neither tells the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) or the police. Why?”

The story has snowballed into a full-blown controversy after Mallya sensationally revealed in London on Wednesday that Jaitley was aware of his leaving for London as he had informed him about his plans in a meeting with the finance minister.

A nervous Jaitley had quickly taken to Facebook to clarify his stand while not categorically denying Mallya’s claims of meeting. India is currently seeking Mallya’s extradition after he defaulted on bank loans to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore.

Rahul on Wednesday had asked for Jaitley’s resignation and an independent probe into Mallya’s revelations.