Congress hits back at Jaitley over diary remarks

The Congress on Saturday hit back at Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for his remarks on the AgustaWestland case about diaries being an admissible evidence, asking why his BJP was silent on the Sahara and Yeddy diaries.

Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said that Jaitley was suddenly showing immense faith in "diary entries" to make bogus allegations against the Congress.

"What's good for the goose is good for the gander! Why is PM Modi & BJP silent on Sahara Diaries? Why is PM Modi & BJP mute on Yeddy Diaries? Duplicity & Doublespeak is ingrained in BJP's DNA," he said.

Jaitley had said on Friday that a diary constitutes an admission in writing and is admissible against the maker of that admission.

He had said this evidence is also admissible against the other co-conspirators if it is made when the conspiracy was still being executed and there is other evidence that corroborates the contents of the diary.

He said the Congress should answer as to who had been referred to as "RG", "AP" and "FAM" in documents cited by the ED in the AgustaWestland VVIP choppers case.

The Congress has said that the ED chargesheet filed in the helicopter case was a "cheap election stunt" to divert people's attention from the "imminent defeat" of the Narendra Modi government in the Lok Sabha elections.

--IANS

ps/vd