Probe Jayant Sinha, but also probe Jay Shah: Yashwant Sinha

Senior BJP leader and former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha on Friday said that all politicians whose names crop up in the "Paradise Papers" -- including that of his son Jayant Sinha -- must be probed, as also should the alleged spike in turnover of BJP chief Amit Shahs son Jay Shahs company.

"My request to the government is that the politicians whose names have cropped up in Paradise Papers must be probed in a time-bound manner, and within 15 days to a month the government should tell whether those politicians are guilty or not," Sinha said while speaking with NDTV news channel on Friday.

"But if there is inquiry against Jayant Sinha then why should there not be an inquiry against Jay Shah? Why in Jay Shah's case are they saying that those who have any objections should approach the courts?" Sinha said.

Last month, news website 'The Wire' had run a story that alleged that a firm owned by Jay Shah had suddenly shown turnover of 16,000 times in a year's time, after the NDA government was formed at the Centre.

After the opposition raised a storm over the issue, senior RSS leader Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi said those levelling allegations against Jay Shah should go to court.

The name of Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, appeared in "Paradise Papers", a set of 13.4 million leaked financial documents from law firm Appleby on investments of major multinational corporations and that of well-known individuals in India and abroad in tax havens.

However, Jayant Sinha refuted allegations of wrongdoing, saying his transactions were "completely bona fide and legal".

"Before I joined public life, I was a venture capitalist. I was working for one of the world's leading investment firms. As a representative of Omidyar Network on the D.Light Board, I signed a paper so that D.Light can borrow some money from another very reputable firm," Jayant Sinha has said.

--IANS

mak/rn