US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Centre trying to haul up Rao, Kesri under FCRA

Sunil Jha in New Delhi

The Centre today told the Delhi High Court that it was initiating action against the Congress and its former presidents P V Narasimha Rao and Sitaram Kesri in the Rs 30.75 million Foreign Contribution Regulation Act violation case.

The decision of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led caretaker government is contrary to the stance taken by the previous United Front government which had stated through an affidavit before the court that FCRA did not apply on contributions made to the Congress between December 1993 and March 1995.

Additional Solicitor General M S Vaidyanathan submitted before the court that on the basis of legal opinion the government has decided to initiate action under FCRA.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice S N Variava and Justice S K Mahajan, taking note of the submission of Vaidyanathan, directed the government to file an affidavit within ten days putting on record their latest stance.

The decision to initiate action was taken after legal experts opined that contributions received by the Congress from four Non Resident Indian-owned foreign companies -- Decor, Dominian, Diera and Berkley -- amounted to violation of FCRA.

In view of the changing stance of the Centre, Justice Variava observed ''whether the government will change its stand in October (after elections).''

However, the court refused to entertain the request of advocate Prashant Bhushan, counsel for petitioner Madhuresh Kumar, that the government should be directed to file the chargesheet in the case immediately. Justice Mahajan was of the view that a set procedure had to be followed and a First Information Report has to be filed before chargesheeting anybody.

The matter would now come up for hearing on August 13.

The case was being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation after being transferred from the Delhi police on July 7 last year. The CBI has completed the job of ascertaining the ownership of the four companies. While the Diera, Decor and Dominian companies are owned by the Mittals, Berkley Bank is owned by one Seema Lohia who had contributed Rs 20.75 million to the Congress.

The four companies had made the contributions between 1993 and 1994 when Kesri was the party treasurer and Rao the president.

Patna-based journalist Madhuresh Kumar had filed the Public Interest Litigation seeking initiation of legal proceedings against Kesri, Rao and the Congress for receiving the payments ignoring the fact that no party was supposed to receive any such aid from any foreign company.

Bhushan contended that if the money was received from a private company based abroad, even if owned by NRIs, then there was a clear offence under FCRA.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report