Jethmalani denies media reports

NEW DELHI, JUNE 9. The former Law Minister, Mr. Ram Jethmalani, today reacted sharply to media reports on his letter to the Prime Minister saying, as Law Minister, he had never discussed with anybody about any chargesheet to be filed by the CBI in the Rs. 64-crore Bofors payoffs case.

Speaking to PTI from Mumbai over phone, Mr. Jethmalani termed as ``absolutely false'' the official version that during a high- level meeting in July 1999, he had consented to chargesheeting of the Hindujas on the basis of available material.

``I am surprised that the officials said that the then Law Minister discussed the chargesheet. Nothing of this kind ever happened. Ministers do not discuss chargesheets,'' he said.

``As far as I remember I was once asked by someone, most probably the Prime Minister, whether a dead man could be chargesheeted,'' he said, adding ``I had said the dead man's name could be mentioned in the Column II of the chargesheet.'' The CBI mentioned the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi's name in the Column II of the Chargesheet it filed against Italian businessman, Mr. Ottavio Quattrocchi, and others in October 1999.

Referring to his letter to the Prime Minister two days before the petition by the Hindujas was heard by the apex court, Mr. Jethmalani said: ``The whole letter has to be seen to understand the context in which it was written.''

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