MEA, Finance Ministry speaking in differing voices on Lalit Modi: senior advocate

Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde on Tuesday opined that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Ministry of Finance are speaking in differing voices with respect to the controversy surrounding former IPL chairman Lalit Modi.

"The Government of India is one entity and the MEA and the Finance Ministry are part of that. They must not take different stances. However, while the Finance Ministry was securing Lalit Modi's return to India, [External Affairs] Minister Sushma Swaraj requested Britain to give him travel documents. Those are two voices," Hegde told ANI.

"Humanitarian grounds cannot be used as a cloak to shield a host of decisions. The travel document was not restricted for a time and place," he added.

Swaraj on Sunday had said she had taken a humanitarian view of Lalit Modi's case since his wife was suffering from cancer.

She further said that British MP Keith Vaz had spoken to her on the same, adding she believes that giving an Indian citizen 'emergency travel documents' cannot spoil relations between India and the UK.

Vaz, who is facing an inquiry in the UK over the role he played in Modi receiving his travel papers, said that he had checked with the Indian Government before taking any action and added that he had received a 'no objection' from New Delhi.