Covering up corruption: UPA style - Rajinder Puri

8.1.12

Covering up corruption: UPA style - Rajinder Puri

*Government & Corruption*
*******by* *******Rajinder Puri* 

The most damaging weakness of India’s political class is its lack of
credibility. Regardless of the truth, people at large are convinced that
the entire political class is corrupt. The government covers up corruption
cases. The opposition dares not pursue them even when those in the
government are involved. The Scorpene deal, the Koda mining scam, the Raja
Spectrum scam, the IPL scam – the list of unresolved cases that do, or
will, gather dust seems endless. The highest leadership in both the
government and the opposition lacks public credibility. This is because of
the curious inertia displayed by these leaders even after circumstances
cloud their reputations. The biggest scam currently on the radar is of
course the Hassan Ali Khan Hawala scam.

***Corruption has become so widespread and brazen that it is destroying the
foundations of the Indian Republic. India can stand on the roof and watch
its neighbour’s house in flames. Why doesn't it look below its feet to
realize that its own house is burning?*
Readers will recall this scribe had earlier drawn attention to the *Hassan
Ali scam* <http://www.boloji.com/myword/mw176.html> and the government’s
brazen cover up to bury the truth. Hassan Al is the owner of a Pune stud
farm.*** He has 10 known illegal Swiss bank accounts,* probably more in
other tax havens. His money stashed abroad is astronomical.*** According to
the government's statement he owed Rs 50,345 crore to the tax department as
on 31 March 2009.* According to accountants that sum would have escalated
to approximately Rs 100,000 crore by when Budget 2010 was presented. On
October 20, 2009 this scribe pointed out how according to Swiss authorities
while the Indian government publicly sought help in probing Hassan Ali’s
Swiss account, privately it sabotaged the probe by submitting “forged”
documents asked for by Switzerland’s Federal Office of Justice.*** Swiss
authorities wanted to help, but Indian authorities withheld proper
documentation. Since April 2007 the Indian government has kept mum on the
Swiss request for proper documents.****
*
On March 18 2010 this scribe drew attention to Finance Minister Pranab
Mukherjee’s statement to the media that the government had recovered the
tax dues from Hassan Ali. But the revised estimates for 2009-10 did not
accommodate the Rs 100,000 crore due from Hassan Ali in the Budget figures.
Further, the existing Income Tax Act was amended to waive impediments for
tax defaulters like Hassan Ali to approach the Settlement Commission for
resolving tax disputes. If Hassan Ali Khan approaches the Commission it
would enable the government to evade sharing information about Hassan Ali’s
undisclosed foreign assets with foreign governments as required by the
international tax treaties entered into by the government.

***Clearly, Finance Minister Mukherjee is covering up the Hassan Ali
probe.* Why?
The answer may have been given in the Maharashtra Assembly. On April 13th a
CD showing Hassan Ali was laid on the table of the House by BJP MLA
Devendra Phadnavis.*** The CD contained Ali's statement to police in which
he mentioned names of former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Maharashtra
Home Minister RR Patil and Congress President Sonia Gandhi**** and
her****political secretary, Ahmed Patel. In the CD Ali claimed a
meeting involving
RR Patil and Ahmed Patel at Juhu Centaur Hotel on 11 August 2008 to approve
Hasan Gafoor’s name as Mumbai’s police commissioner.* Home Minister Patil
vehemently denied any association with Ali. "I have never met Ahmed Patel
and never spoken to him face to face. The CID will probe if the motive of
the CD was to harm Gafoor, me, Ahmed Patel or anybody else", Patil told the
assembly.

The government ordered an inquiry conducted by Additional Director General,
Crime Investigative Department (CID) and SP, S. Yadav. The CD was prepared
by the use of spy cam by Deputy Police Commissioner Ashok Deshbhratar.
Predictably, the politicians named have not been questioned. Their denials
have been accepted at face value. Instead the CID charged IPS officer Ashok
Deshbhratar who produced the CD with trying to extort money from Hasan Ali!
In its 15 page report the CID stated that Hasan Ali’s confession has been
selectively edited. The CID had sent the CD to the forensic lab at
Chandigarh. Its report said the audio-visual pieces of interrogation were
not inter-linked, but joined together in sequence to appear as if they are
part of continuous interrogation. Inter-linked or not, the forensic report
does not deny that it was Hassan Ali himself speaking the “disjointed”
narrative. CID investigations confirmed that one meeting did take place
involving Vilasrao Deshmukh and Ahmed Patel at Juhu Centaur on March 15,
2008. But CID comforted itself with the fact it could not have discussed
Gafoor’s appointment because by then Gafoor had already been appointed
Mumbai Commissioner of Police. Never mind the Police Commissioner’s
appointment, how is Hassan Ali’s proximity to Congress politicians
including the political secretary of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Ahmed
Patel, to be explained?

Circumstantial evidence reveals therefore that Hassan Ali, the nation’s
biggest money launderer, is protected by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
And Hassan Ali has links with senior Congress politicians including Sonia
Gandhi’s trusted political secretary, Ahmed Patel. During his interaction
with Ali was Ahmed Patel representing himself or his boss, Sonia Gandhi? If
he was representing himself why has Sonia Gandhi not sacked him? If he was
representing the Congress President how does Sonia Gandhi explain her
party’s links with the nation’s biggest money launderer who is being
protected by the Finance Minister?

Connect the dots and the picture that emerges is not pretty. Either the
Congress is so stupid that it deserves to be removed from power, or it is
so corrupt that it deserves to be removed from power. Wittingly or
otherwise the BJP until now has served only Hassan Ali’s interests.
Publicizing the CD will act as a powerful disincentive for the government
to act against Hasan Ali. By not pursuing the matter at the national level
the BJP has failed to serve its own interests. Therefore the BJP is either
so corrupt that it deserves to perpetually remain out of power. Or it is so
stupid that it deserves to perpetually remain out of power.

Corruption has become so widespread and brazen that it is destroying the
foundations of the Indian Republic. India can stand on the roof and watch
its neighbour’s house in flames. Why doesn't it look below its feet to
realize that its own house is burning?


http://www.boloji.com/myword/index.htm

Raising Voice against Corruption!

by Rajinder Puri

Famous film star Mr. Anupam Kher visited Anna Hazare’s fasting site in Mumbai to extend support to his movement. Speaking to TV Mr. Kher said: “Everybody should raise his voice against corruption!” Mr. Abhishekh Bachchan on Twitter said he would support anyone fighting corruption. Mr. Kher would be glad to know that everyone is raising a voice against corruption. Led by Anna Hazare, his Team members, Bollywood actors, celebrities, and a vast number of people at large are saying: “Corruption is bad, corruption is bad and corruption is bad!”  But nobody is saying: “Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, the Maharashtra Intelligence after investigation confirmed that your political secretary Mr. Ahmed Patel along with your cabinet minister Mr. Vilasrao Deshmukh held a closed door meeting with accused money launderer Hasan Ali who allegedly has billions of dollars stashed in illegal foreign bank accounts. Yet you have said nothing to the public to explain the purpose of that meeting, nor removed either of these leaders from his respective post. What might people conclude from your silence?” Nobody is saying: “Mr. Nitin Gadkari, authorities have ordered a fresh investigation into the circumstances of how the dead body of a young girl, daughter of your employee, was found in a car parked in your compound. You maintained silence while the dead girl’s family agitated and demanded a probe. You have yet not opened your mouth to utter a word on the subject. What should people make of your silence?” Nobody is saying: “Dr. Manmohan Singh, what led you very recently to offer without provocation such fulsome praise to your Home Minister Mr. P Chidambaram who is being targeted for involvement in the 2G scam? Is it the fear that if Mr. Chidambaram is allowed to go down he will pull others, including you, with him? Do you want people to believe that you were ignorant of what your former cabinet colleague Telecom Minister Mr. A Raja, presently in jail, was up to? Should you be believed after you once lied in a sworn affidavit that you were a permanent resident of Assam staying in the Chief Minister’s house in order to facilitate your entry into the Rajya Sabha?” Nobody is saying: “Mr. LK Advani, could you at least tell us now for the record whether or not you received Rs 60 lakhs from the accused in the Jain Hawala case? Your silence about the terrorist funding related to that case was strange. Even stranger was your recent letter of apology to Mrs. Sonia Gandhi over allegations based on credible evidence about her foreign bank accounts. Should people conclude that you are in some manner vulnerable to pressures from the government?” Nobody is saying: “President Pratibha Patil, your candidature for the President’s post should have been debarred because you were under investigation by the CBI for misusing your powers as the Governor to shield a relative charged with murder. Once you became President you could not be investigated. What is the status of that probe? After you demit office will it be revived or is it buried forever because you became President?” Nobody is saying: “Mr. Anna Hazare, how do you keep claiming that you have a spotless record when a judicial commission after conducting an inquiry indicted you for illegally diverting Rs 2 lakhs from your Trust fund to misuse it for your birthday celebrations? Your subsequent assertion that you refunded the money was erroneous because you merely adjusted the loss against a fresh donation unrelated to the diversion that was made to your Trust. Responding to a petition the Supreme Court summoned you, the Maharashtra government and the CBI to ascertain why no action was ordered against you despite the findings of the judicial commission. Was the CBI action stalled because of your close links with a section of Maharashtra Congress leaders including Mr. Vilasrao Deshmukh? Has the date for your court appearance been set…?”  There are a host of things that might be said to a host of leaders in order to extract some answers. But people only keep chanting, “Corruption is bad, corruption is bad and corruption is bad!” That is how everybody is raising a voice against corruption. Wow! How easy it is to fight corruption!”

28-Dec-2011http://www.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content&sd=Articles&ArticleID=11734