File Photo: Chief Minister of Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje. (Press Trust of India photo)
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is yet to comment on documents that suggest that she agreed to be a secret witness for controversial former IPL chief Lalit Modi's immigration application to the UK.
According to a three-page note released by Lalit Modi's public relations team on Tuesday, Ms Raje had supported his application for immigration to the UK in 2011, when she was opposition leader, but on condition of strict secrecy.
"Of course I know the family (of Lalit Modi), but I do not know what documents are being discussed," Ms Raje told reporters last evening. Sources close to her say the document is not verified; it has no signatures.
In the document, which ends abruptly, Ms Raje purportedly says: "I make this statement in support of any immigration application that Lalit Modi makes, but do so on the strict condition that my assistance will not become known to the Indian authorities."
The document is dated 18 August 2011, nearly a year after allegations of corruption surfaced against Lalit Modi in connection with the multi-billion dollar IPL or Indian Premier League.
It has also emerged that the Rajasthan government signed an MoU last year with the same hospital in Portugal where Lalit Modi's wife Minal was treated for cancer. The agreement was signed in October, months after the surgery. The state has sanctioned Rs 120 crore and land for a cancer foundation by the hospital in Rajasthan.
Reports say that Ms Raje had visited the hospital in Lisbon with Lalit Modi's wife in 2012-13.
Rajasthan Health Minister Rajendra Singh Rathore says he was not aware of the hospital's connection to Lalit Modi.
"I do not know who Lalit Modi is or where his wife was treated. We wanted the expertise of those who are best in cancer research, that's why I signed the MOU. If signing the MOU is a crime then I'm guilty," Mr Rathore said.
Ms Raje is the second BJP leader to be drawn into the controversy over Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj helping Lalit Modi obtain emergency travel documents from Britain when his passport was held by Indian authorities over corruption allegations.