Is India’s Finance Minister a Corrupt Man?

In a new case of alleged corruption, India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is currently facing the opposition wrath in a multi-crore rupees scam.

By Rakesh Raman

There is no denying the fact that corruption runs in the blood of Indian politicians and bureaucrats. Some of them are criminally corrupt and the others are morally corrupt.

In a new case of alleged corruption, India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is currently facing the opposition wrath in a multi-crore rupees scam that took place at the Delhi and District Cricket Administration (DDCA) headed by Jaitley.

The Delhi government headed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal – who himself is a morally challenged man – has accused Jaitley of financial irregularities in running the DDCA affairs.

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In this connection, Kejriwal has also claimed that his office was raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) a week ago at the behest of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi who wants to save his minister Jaitley from the corruption charges.

Kejriwal said that CBI had come to his office without informing him and was searching for Jaitley’s files that contain classified information about the probe pertaining to Jaitley. However, Jaitley’s party BJP has dismissed Kejriwal’s claims saying he is a habitual liar.

Meanwhile, the opposition party Congress says that under the Chairmanship of Jaitley, gross financial irregularities occurred in DDCA.

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Congress – which is known as India’s most corrupt political party – laments that Narendra Modi came to power in May 2014 on the plank of transparency and Achhe Din (good days). Since then, some of his top ministers have been accused of indulging in blatant acts of corruption, helping fugitives and cover-ups of scams. But the Prime Minister has not spoken a single word, Congress blames Modi.

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In reply to a Parliament question in August, according to Congress, the government agreed that irregularities were found against four DDCA office bearers, and that the Company Law Board was looking into the offences. The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and DDCA’s own internal enquiry had also found huge financial irregularities.

According to Congress, Rs. 24 crore had been sanctioned for the renovation of the Ferozshah Kotla cricket stadium. But, eventually an amount of Rs. 114 crore was spent.

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There were no proper contracts, nor were any tenders issued for the re-construction. Most of the companies who got contracts were close to office bearers of DDCA, Congress claims.

Under Jaitley, the DDCA contravened the Companies Act by not disclosing its accounts. It did not maintain accounts of income and expenditure. Moreover, Congress says, the Kotla stadium operated without getting a completion certificate from the Disaster Management Authority, which is in gross violation of safety norms.

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Also, under Jaitley, loans were given by DDCA, without proper documentation, to private companies – again a violation by a Section 25 Company under the Companies Act. They also provided loans to 9 bogus entities. On investigation, it turned out all of them had same registered office, according to Congress.

It is said that both internal and external investigating agencies have found a prima facie case of irregularities at DDCA. So, Congress has demanded the resignation of Jaitley and a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe of the case.

By Rakesh Raman, the managing editor of RMN Company

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Photo courtesy: Congress