‘Bizman was planted to shield AAP’
A day after an east Delhi businessman claimed that he donated ₹2 crore to the Aam Aadmi Party in 2014, sacked minister Kapil Mishra accused the AAP leadership of ‘propping’ up the man to shield the real operators of the ‘shell’ companies involved in hawala transactions.
In a press conference at his residence, Mishra shared documents related to the four companies---Skyline Metal and Alloys Pvt Ltd, Goldmine Buildcon Pvt Ltd, Infoline Software Solution Ltd and Sunvision company--which Mukesh Sharma owned up. The former minister claimed that Mukesh was forced to come out in public as the AAP leadership wants to shield another person, Hem Prakash Sharma.
Citing purported documents from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Mishra claimed that Mukesh was not a director in two of the four companies, which he said were “shell entities”.
Mishra claimed that Hem Prakash Sharma, who was additional director in one of the companies owned by Mukesh, was also a director in a company along with lawyer Rohit Tandon, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in December, during the demonetisation drive, for laundering black money.
Kejriwal alleged that the Delhi chief minister had opposed demonetisation due to his alleged links with “hawala operators”.
“This is the biggest proof of hawala nexus against Kejriwal. The man who donated Rs 2 crore to AAP is wanted by CBI, ED and the IT officials, but he meets Kejriwal…It seems this is the reason why Kejriwal was shouting so much after the government’s demonetisation move and was coming out on the streets against it,” Mishra said.
Demanding Kejriwal’s resignation, Mishra said he has submitted all the related documents produced on Friday to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
The charges were, however, vehemently denied by the AAP leadership. Senior party leader Sanjay Singh said the donations in question, that were made on April 5, 2014, were received through “proper banking channels”.
“There was no illegality involved. All laid down procedures for accepting donations were followed and the money received was declared money. It’s been two years. The Centre has all the agencies at its disposal, but they have failed to unearth any wrongdoing. Party is open to any kind of probe,” Singh said, adding that the country watching how the BJP was trying to malign the AAP and Kejriwal.
Initially, AAP had maintained that it was not aware of the source of the money, received in the form of four cheques of ₹50 lakh each, which had found an oblique mention even in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech during the 2015 Delhi assembly polls.
However, on Thursday, east Delhi-based businessman Mukesh Sharma told media that he had donated the amount through four of “his companies registered in Delhi”.
Mishra also wondered how the AAP accepted donations from Mukesh when one of his companies, SKN Associates, was slapped with a notice by the Delhi government in December 2013 “for not paying VAT”.
Mukesh couldn’t be reached for a comment despite repeated attempts.
health minister Satyendar Jain has filed separate criminal complaints for defamation against sacked water minister Kapil Mishra and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa in a Delhi court for allegedly making false and baseless statements against him.
The matter has been listed for hearing before Metropolitan Magistrate Shefali Barnala Tandon on May 29.
Accusing Arvind Kejriwal of corruption, Mishra had claimed he saw Jain hand over ₹2 crore to the Delhi chief minister. Mishra claimed the money was unaccounted and demanded to know from where it had been procured and where it was used.
Mishra said Jain had helped Kejriwal’s relative finalise a land deal in Chhattarpur, Delhi. He had approached the CBI and the anti-corruption branch against the party with ‘evidence’ of corruption. HTC