New Delhi: Congress today targeted Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and demanded his resignation over alleged “gross financial irregularities” in Delhi's cricket body DDCA when he headed it from 1999 to 2013.
In a further escalation of the confrontation between the opposition party and the government, the party claimed that a committee constituted by Delhi government has found “gross financial irregularities” in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) during that period.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had yesterday indicated that he proposed to order a Commission of Inquiry into the report of the committee set up by his government to go into the DDCA affairs, which implicated Jaitley.
Jaitley had dismissed his claims as “absolute rubbish” but he was not available immediately to react to the Congress charges.
Congress fielded its top parliamentary leaders to launch the attack on Jaitley and the affairs of the DDCA, a Sec 25 non-profit company, and demand that he should step down because a fair probe was not possible as long as he was in office.
Flanked by Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, party leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge senior spokesman Ajay Maken also sought setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to go into the issue.
“Congress demands that pending the completion of inquiry through a JPC, Arun Jaitley step down, failing which the Prime Minister should sack him,” Maken said at a press conference.
He made his claims on the basis of reports of a three-member committee set up by Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal, an RoC report of last year, findings of a two-member commission constituted by a Delhi court and an internal fact-finding committee of DDCA.
Maken said four persons in the DDCA, who have been “known for their proximity” to Jaitley have been named as “officers in default” by the Registrar of Companies in his order of August last year.
“How can a fair probe into the issue is possible as long as Jaitley is the Finance Minister, who is also the Corporate Affairs Minister”, he wondered.
Maken noted that virtually all enforcement authorities ED, IT, Revenue intelligence, Serious Fraud Investigation Office directly report to him.
“The same agencies are supposed to take action against DDCA for infraction of various rules and norms of the Companies Act and under criminal law”, he said.
Maken, who has earlier been Sports Minister at the Centre, said the Registrar of Companies have “proved” the charges of irregularities after he had complained to the then Corporate Affairs Minister M Veerappa Moily, who had ordered the ROC inquiry.
He said the investigation by the SFIO had found that the Reconstruction of the Ferozshah Kotla stadium was carried out between 2002 and 2007 which saw an escalation of costs by Rs 90 crore. He said the initial budget was 24 crore but eventually it went up to Rs 114 crore.
Maken claimed that it was also revealed by SFIO probe that there was no record of tender for most of the contracts issued by the DDCA for the construction of the Stadium.
He said the report found many companies that were given contracts were actually owned by the office bearers of the DDCA.
“Our plate is already full”, Azad remarked when reporters queried whether the Congress would raise it in Parliament tomorrow.
Kharge said that the decision would be taken by the leadership.
Maken, who is also Delhi Congress chief, hit hard at the Arvind Kejriwal government raising question as to why it was sitting on the report for one month.
The Chief Minister had on Nov 12 asked a three-member Committee to go into the DDCA affairs within three days. Questioning the plans of Delhi government to appoint a Commission of Inquiry against Jaitley, He wanted to know why Kejriwal did not proceed to take action by registering a First Information Report or writing to the Delhi High Court for a court monitored CBI inquiry.
