Clarification Sought On Revenue Secys Statement

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) yesterday sought clarifications from former Prime Minster H D Deve Gowda on revenue secretary N K Singhs statement that Gowda had instructed revenue department officials to allow chairman of Bennett Coleman and Co Ltd, Ashok Jain, to go out of the country on January 4, 1997, on medical grounds. Singhs statement was published in The Statesman on yesterday.

In the light of Singhs disclosure, it is incumbent on Gowda to clarify his position, party spokesperson Yashwant Sinha said.

Did he or did he not issue instructions to the revenue department to allow the gentleman concerned to leave India, he asked.

Gowda had claimed in Parliament that his government could not be accused of scam or shielding scamsters, Sinha pointed out. The revenue secretarys revelations, which are startling, have put question mark on Gowda claim, he said, adding that Singhs statement has come in the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (Fera) violations case.