New Delhi:
As Home Minister P Chidambaram came in the line of Opposition fire, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Tejinder Khanna today revoked his earlier decision and asked for cases against a hotelier, said to be a former client of the minister, to be restarted.
This comes against the backdrop of controversy over the alleged conflict of interest involving Chidambaram in withdrawal of three cases against his client SP Gupta, Chairman, Sunair Hotels Limited, New Delhi.
"Keeping in view this recommendation of the Director of Prosecution, the Home Department again submitted the case of the Lieutenant Governor with the recommendation that withdrawal of prosecution in respect of the above cases may not be pressed before the competent court and the trial may proceed further on merits. This recommendation has been approved by the Lieutenant Governor on 15.12.2011," a Delhi government press release said on Thursday.
The Director of Prosecution had on detailed examination of the contents of the chargesheets against the hotelier had recommended that there was sufficient evidence on record against the accused and the courts may not allow withdrawal of prosecution.
The Lieutenant Governor had, on November 18, approved withdrawal of these cases on the basis of recommendations by the Screening Committee headed by Principal Secretary (Home).
The Delhi government release said its Home Department had received a representation through the Union Home Ministry in May, 2011 that the dispute between Sunair Hotels Limited and VLS Finance Ltd, who had granted some financial accommodation to them, was essentially of a civil nature and did not involve any criminal liability.
Meanwhile, the Home Ministry said Mr Chidambaram did not have any role in the withdrawal of the FIRs against Mr Gupta.
Union Home Secretary RK Singh claimed that the draft of a letter sent by the Home Ministry to the Delhi government for withdrawal of the FIRs had not been shown to the Home Minister or Home Secretary or the Joint Secretary concerned and it did not reflect the proper deliberations of the Home Ministry. He suggested it could be a fault of drafting.
"The draft was not shown to the Home Minister. The file was not shown to the Home Secretary either. Even the concerned Joint secretary also said he had not seen the draft. The Home Minister had no role in withdrawal of the case," he told reporters here.
The three FIRs relate to Mr Gupta allegedly misusing the names of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and defrauding a firm - VLS Finance - to the tune of several crores of rupees.
The ministry in a statement had said: "The Home Minister is unable to recall at this distance of time whether he appeared in a case concerning M/s Sunair Hotels Pvt Ltd at any time between 1999 and 2003."
The Home Secretary said while going through the file related to the cases against SP Gupta, the Home Minister made it clear that the Ministry of Home Affairs should not give any advice to the Delhi government but only forward the opinion of the Ministry of Law.
"The (Home) Ministry has never said that the case should be withdrawn. The Home Minister categorically wrote on the file that only the advice of the Law Ministry should be forwarded to the GNCTD (Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi) and no advice should be given from the Ministry of Home Affairs. There was no question of conflict of interest," he said.