No Wrongdoing by Sushma Swaraj in Lalit Modi Case, says Law Minister Sadananda Gowda

Thiruvananthapuram: Union Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda today said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's helping Lalit Modi was purely on humanitarian grounds and there was no sort of "collusion with matters pertaining to corruption."
    
"Sushma Swaraj did it on humanitarian grounds. Well, doing something on humanitarian grounds is part of country's culture," he told a meet-the-press programme in Thiruvananthapuram.
    
"On the face it it, there is nothing collusion with matters pertaining to corruption," he said.
    
"We should act on humanitarian grounds. One person who is affected by cancer (Modi's wife) and she is on death bed and needed some help," Mr Gowda said while asserting that the External Affairs Minister had not done anything wrong.
    
"But nowhere, Sushma Swaraj spoke about illegal transaction or any other--only some travel document, for a specific purpose.No transaction or business that come anyway near corruption," he added.
    
Taking a dig at Congress and other Opposition parties for slamming BJP-NDA on the issue, the Law Minister said Congress had no locus-standi to take up the issue "as it does not come under corruption. They are attacking the government as they did not get any other issue," he added.
    
Mr Gowda also rejected reports which suggested ministers were not free to take decisions.

"As far my ministry is concerned, there was no interference from any quarter," he said.