Sushma Swaraj's Conduct in Lalit Modi Row Raises Questions: Congress's P Chidambaram

Chennai: Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram is addressing a press conference on the controversy surrounding the UK visa for former IPL boss Lalit Modi.

Here is what he has said:

• In 2011, Lalit Modi's passport was cancelled at the request of the Enforcement Directorate.
• ED had issued show-cause notices and summons to appear to Lalit Modi but he did not respond.
• ED briefed me that he was staying in the UK without a valid passport.
• ED requested me to take up the matter of Lalit Modi with my UK counterpart, George Osborne, which I did after consultations with the Cabinet.
• The conduct of Sushma Swaraj in facilitating travel papers for Lalit Modi raises several questions.
• Why is the government, despite repeated demands, not releasing letters exchanged with the UK Chancellor of Exchequer?
• Why did the External Affairs Minister feel Lalit Modi, who is an Indian citizen, should have a UK travel document and not and Indian travel document?
• If the UPA is hounding him, why does Arun Jaitley confirm that in 15 of 16 case, he has been given show cause notices? Is the NDA also hounding him?
• Government of India should make the file noting public. Who took the decision to issue a fresh passport to Lalit Modi?
• What steps has the government taken to enforce summons by ED?
• Is the NDA government incapable of protecting an Indian citizen who has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate?
• Lalit Modi's charge that he is a political victim is laughable.
• Facts that have been disclosed so far point to nepotism, abuse of authority and flouting rules.
• The point is there was a look-out notice, more than one show cause notice and the passport was cancelled. How does this gentleman still remain in the UK?
• Reject the charge that former PM Manmohan Singh was silent when the issue came up.
• Who took the decision not to file against the Delhi High Court order that restored passport to Lalit Modi?
• How was Lalit Modi staying in the UK when his passport was cancelled, why wasn't he sent back to India?
• The conduct of Sushma Swaraj in facilitating travel papers for Lalit Modi raises several questions.
• Why did the External Affairs Minister feel that an Indian citizen should get a UK travel document instead of an Indian document?
• If the  humanitarian ground is a genuine ground, why does an Indian minister not tell an Indian citizen  to apply to the Indian High Commission for temporary travel documents?