Raising a series of questions on the Lalit Modi controversy, former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday wanted to know who in the NDA government took the decision not to appeal against a Delhi High Court judgment quashing the cancellation of Mr. Modi’s passport.
Why External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj could not have asked him to apply for emergency travel documents from the Indian mission in London instead of helping him get British documents, Mr. Chidambaram asked.
Speaking to newspersons here, he asked: “If the External Affairs Minister was inclined to facilitate Mr. Lalit Modi’s travel to Portugal on humanitarian grounds, why did she not advise him to apply to the Indian High Commission in London for a temporary travel document….” He wanted to know why a condition that Mr. Modi should return was not set before facilitating his travel to Portugal.
'Who decided to issue fresh passport?'
Questioning the Centre’s handling of the Lalit Modi travel issue, Mr. Chidambaram noted that a Division Bench of the High Court had reversed a single judge’s order while setting aside the revocation of Mr. Modi’s passport.
Speaking to newspersons here, he asked: “Who took the decision not to file an appeal to the Supreme Court? Who took the decision to issue a fresh passport? Will the government make public the file notings on the subject?” He also sought to know what steps the Centre had taken to enforce the summons of the Enforcement Directorate.
Mr. Chidambaram also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Union Minister Arun Jaitley said yesterday [on Tuesday] that the government takes collective responsibility for the actions of any Minister, so I assume that Mr. Modi takes responsibility for [External Affairs Minister] Ms. Sushma Swaraj’s action,” he said.
Raising other questions on the controversy, the senior Congressman said he was unable to understand why the Centre would shy away from releasing the letters he wrote to George Osborne, then Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, on the issue.
Recalling from memory, he said the letter made it clear that Mr. Lalit Modi was being investigated under laws of India; that his passport had been cancelled and he had no right to travel outside India or to remain in the U.K.; and that the U.K. government may take steps to send him back to India.
“The reply from Mr. Osborne [to the first letter] was quite negative which is why my subsequent letter was couched in stronger language,” Mr. Chidambaram said.
Dismissing as “laughable” the charge of political vendetta, Mr. Chidambaram said the allegation has been rejected by Mr. Jaitley himself when he confirmed that the ED was indeed investigating 16 cases against Mr. Modi and had issued show cause notices in 15 of those. “Does this mean the NDA is also acting with political vendetta?” he wanted to know.
Taking a dig at Ms. Swaraj, he said charges of nepotism and abuse of authority had surfaced and new revelations keep coming out every day.
| 1 | Lalit Modi has admitted that he sought and received help from External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. “I have a family and legal relationship with the Sushma Swaraj family; it is a close relationship,” Mr Modi said adding that his relationship with Ms. Raje went back 30 years. >Read more |
| 2 | Mr. Modi had dismissed allegations levelled against him in the controversy, saying that he was being targeted as part of a political conspiracy aimed at destabilising the Narendra Modi government. >Read more |
| 3 | Mr. Modi's counsel Mehmood Abdi accused former UPA Ministers Salman Khursheed, P. Chidambaram and Shashi Tharoor of being behind the current controversy. |
| 4 | Demanding Ms. Swaraj's resignation, Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar said: "The BJP, the External Affairs Minister and the whole government have come out to save an accused of the Enforcement Directorate." >Read more |
| 5 | BJP MP Kirti Azad, hinting at a feud within the party on Twitter, referred to a party insider playing a role in leaking information about Ms. Swaraj’s recommendation and her family’s association with Mr. Modi. >Read more |
| 6 | The U.K. said it will not probe into the allegations against Labour party MP Keith Vaz. The Commissioner for Standards examined a complaint of conflict-of-interest and dismissed it for lack of sufficient evidence. >Read more |
| 7 | The Union government and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh came out in full support of Ms. Swaraj. Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah said the recommendation was made on “humanitarian” and not “moral” grounds. >Read more |
| 8 | Samajwadi Party came out in support of Ms. Swaraj over her help to Lalit Modi, saying what she did was “perfectly alright” and not a “crime” as people in power have to accommodate the requests of people in need. >Read more |
| 9 | Ms. Swaraj defended her decision to recommend travel documents for former Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi, after taking a "humanitarian view" and asserted that she asked the British government to examine his request and follow the rules. |
| 10 | Ms. Swaraj put out her statement on the microblogging site Twitter, clarifying that she had pointed out that if British authorities were to give travel documents to Mr. Modi, who has sought the documents to be able to travel to Portugal for the treatment of his wife, India would not object. |
