Sushma Swaraj row reaches new low, Congress drags PM Modi into dogfight

The controversy surrounding the help provided by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to former IPL chairman Lalit Modi turned ugly on Tuesday, as the Congress party dragged Prime Minister Narendra Modi into the fray, demanding an answer from him on the fracas.

"When they were no specific queries from authorities from the UK, why did the government make this unacceptable concession? Tearjerkers say that this was done on humanitarian grounds, but this is a false claim by the EAM. There was no invasive surgery on Modi's wife, yet this emergency request for travel document was made. Lalit Modi was holidaying in a place called Ibiza when his passport was restored. But the government did not appeal," Congress leader Anand Sharma said at a press briefing here.

"Can there be one set of rules for UPA ministers and a different set for NDA ministers? [Before coming to power at the Centre], Narendra Modi himself pressed for resignations, even if there was a shadow of doubt on a single UPA minister. Why is the government protecting [Lalit] Modi? The Prime Minister has to speak. We demand a thorough investigation in this affair, not restricted to travel documents, under the supervision of the Supreme Court," he added.

Sharma further claimed that the government is protecting a 'wanted offender', noting that former foreign secretary Sujatha Singh had been kept out of the loop with respect to the travel documents issued by the Ministry of External Affairs to Lalit Modi.

"Rajnath Singh is the Home Minister and he has all the intelligence inputs for all illegal offenders, yet instead he is endorsing the EAM. What have the ED and other agencies done since May 26, 2014 to apprehend Lalit Modi?" he said.

"What the External Affairs Minister did was unwarranted... others also can be accused of protecting Lalit Modi and of dereliction of duty. The Foreign secretary and other secretaries, who actually minute all this, were kept in the loop. Why? The government is protecting a wanted offender. They are hiding facts. We have to ask the Prime Minister directly: why is he quiet? Can there be different set of rules when you talk of probity?" 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.