India’s defence minister Manohar Parrikar has thrown his weight behind her cabinet colleague Sushma Swaraj saying she had done no wrong by helping the former IPL chief Lalit Modi.
Speaking to ANI, he said, “We asked in Rajya Sabha about the list of crimes committed by Sushma Swaraj. No one could say a thing because there was no crime,not even impropriety. What she did was correct. You can bring Lalit Modi and punish him or do whatever you want. But she has not violated law.”
Union external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has been facing heat from the opposition parties for her role in helping Lalit Modi get travel documents from the British authorities at a time when the latter was being investigated the Enforcement Directorate on charges of money laundering.
Later it emerged that Swaraj’s daughter Bansuri had been a part of Lalit Modi’s legal team while the foreign minister’s husband Swaraj Kaushal had been his legal counsel for more than 22 years. This, according to Congress party, was a shining example of conflict of interests committed by the minister.
The opposition parties led by Congress have not allowed the proper functioning of parliament demanding the resignations of BJP’s tainted leaders including the Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhra Raje Scindia and her MP son Dushyant Singh.
The External Affairs Ministry under the UPA government had revoked Lalit Modi’s passport in 2010 following an investigation into charges of money laundering and misappropriation of funds.