Early September, this column commented on the PM's extortion to investigative agencies to probe economic offences because they could be linked to terrorism. Some specific questions about fake currency and fake stamp papers were raised. There has been no official response.
Last week, Abdul Karim Telgi's lawyer Abdul Rehman petitioned the President and the PM. He alleged that he had informed ex-home minister L.K. Advani about Telgi having stashed Rs 5,500 crore at different places. Rehman demanded to know what happened to the money.
Advani confirmed to reporters that they had met. He said Rehman had named Congress leaders, but he would not name them. He said he immediately advised the IB to investigate the allegations. Was this private enterprise or did the IB open a file on the basis of those names? Let the home ministry tell us.
Rehman alleged that he revealed the names of Chhagan Bhujbal and Roshan Baig on Advani's advice? Why? If correct, why did Advani advise him?
Writing elsewhere after the Rehman-Advani meeting, this columnist had observed that before it then Karnataka CM S.M. Krishna was firmly against transferring the Telgi probe to the cbi. After the meeting, he welcomed a CBI probe. Why? Had Rehman conveyed some assurance from Advani? Were the names of BJP leaders included among those Rehman named to Advani?
The long list of politicians mentioned by the media in connection with the Telgi scam cuts across parties. The names mentioned by the media include Ram Jethmalani, Yashwant Sinha, Manohar Joshi, S.M. Krishna, Chhagan Bhujbal, Narayan Rane, Gopinath Munde, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Roshan Baig, Anil Gote and others.
Many police officials have been arrested in connection with the Telgi case. When will all known and unknown politicians connected to it be questioned? Did state leaders of the Congress and BJP, after collecting money generated by the scam, pass part of it to their respective party headquarters? If so, did the top national leaders of the Congress and BJP ever ask where the money came from? Or have the central leaders of both parties become complicit in the scam, making them vulnerable to pressure?
Consider the fake currency scam, which is even bigger. The Reserve Bank of India admitted in a court of law that it had knowingly opted for inferior machines that facilitated printing of fake notes. Somnath Chatterjee, as an MP, had written about the dangers of the new machines to then finance minister Manmohan Singh. Manmohan did nothing. Despite questions raised in this column, both leaders remain silent. Speak up, gentlemen! This is the war against terrorism, remember?
(Puri can be reached at rajinderpuri2000@yahoo.com)
