Govt looked other way as Nirav fled: Oppn
NEW DELHI: Under fire from the Congress-led Opposition over an ₹11,400 crore bank fraud involving jewellery designer Nirav Modi, who is believed to have left India in early January, law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad announced that people who sought to derail the banking system will not be spared.
“I wish to make it very clear on behalf of the government that no one who has sought to derail the ordinary banking system shall be spared, regardless of any individual’s stature and status,” Prasad said at a press conference, shortly after the Congress launched a blistering attack on the Centre for doing nothing to stop “Independent India’s biggest bank fraud” despite having prior information.
The minister also insisted that the government would not face problems in taking action against Modi, even if he was abroad.
Leading the charge against the government, Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleged that the NDA government looked the other way when the jewellery designer used his influence with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to slip out of the country. “Guide to looting India by Nirav Modi — 1. Hug PM Modi 2. Be seen with him in DAVOS. Use that clout to: A. Steal 12,000 crore B. Slip out of the country like Mallya, while the government looks the other way,” he tweeted.
The Congress also equated Modi with liquor baron Vijay Mallya, former IPL chief Lalit Modi and other businessmen who had left the country after allegedly committing frauds. “Loot and escape has become the hallmark of the government,” Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said.
The Congress also released a copy of a complaint by a Bengaluru resident, Hari Prasad, sent to the Prime Minister’s Office two years ago, seeking immediate action against Modi’s business partner Mehul Choksi and his company Gitanjali Gems, for the alleged fraud. “The letter was acknowledged by the Prime Minister’s Office on July 26, 2016. The Prime Minister was made aware of this entire fraud through the complaint,” the Congress leader claimed. Choksi has previously denied his involvement in the alleged fraud at PNB.
Reacting to the row, CPI(M) chief Sitaram Yechury tweeted, “There is a pattern in how people who have defrauded Banks in India, are allowed to escape by the Modi government.” Trinamool Congress’s Derek O’Brien also took to the microblogging site to tweet: “How big is ₹11,000 cr ? Budget 2018 New Health and Education Cess to collect ₹11000 cr from hardworking taxpayers.”
CPI leader D Raja maintained that the latest scam was the second-largest nationalised bank fraud and had been going on for several years.
The BJP , on its part, emphasised that the jewellery designer was not part of the PM’s delegation to Davos and had travelled on his own. It also added that the Prime Minister did not meet him privately.
Prasad said, “People living in glass houses should not throw stone at others. Modi government works honestly and will not come under pressure.” The BJP also raked up e-mails of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya to suggest it was the previous UPA government that helped him.