FILE: Union minister Sushma Swaraj with former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi during a match in New Delhi in 2010 (Press Trust of India photo)
The controversy over Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj helping corruption-accused former Indian Premier League (IPL) boss Lalit Modi obtain British travel documents has triggered sparring between two central ministries - finance and external affairs.
As the opposition accuses the government of protecting Lalit Modi, both ministries blame each other for not challenging a court decision to restore his passport cancelled in 2010 after he left for the UK amid charges of financial irregularities linked to IPL.
Even before Lalit Modi's passport was restored by the Delhi High Court in August last year, Sushma Swaraj's intervention helped him secure British papers to travel abroad.
The opposition has attacked the government for not challenging Lalit Modi's passport despite a blue corner notice that requires him to keep the authorities informed about his whereabouts at all times.
Sources in the foreign ministry insist that it was not their call to appeal against Lalit Modi's passport as his case was being handled by the Enforcement Directorate. The Finance Ministry, which is in charge of the directorate, has disputed this claim.
Finance Ministry sources say the foreign ministry was a party to the court case, and so was responsible for any follow-up action. In response, foreign ministry officials rebut that they were involved only because technically, the passport division is under the ministry.
"MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) was only the Enforcement Directorate's handmaiden," said a ministry source. Sources also say the directorate was present in court for the Lalit Modi hearing.
The Congress said the government's failure to appeal against the court ruling was incompetence.
"The government is a collective. MEA should have filed an appeal in consultation with the finance and home ministries," said Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma.
A former government lawyer agrees that the foreign ministry should have moved Supreme Court, not the Enforcement Directorate.
"The Enforcement Directorate is an affected party and can also appeal but legally MEA is the right authority to appeal," said Jatan Singh. The lawyer said an appeal can still be filed though the order is almost a year old.