Singhvi rubbishes BJP's allegations, warns of legal action

Rubbishing accusations that he and his family had links with Nirav Modi's companies, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Saturday said Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman "was liable to civil and criminal defamation".

The Congress leader said he reserved the right to take appropriate legal action against Sitharaman and a section of the media "which carry such false and maliciously defamatory allegations".

"The BJP/NDA's cheap sense of politics has reached ludicrous and ridiculous proportions. Neither my wife, sons, nor me have anything whatsoever to do with Gitanjali or Nirav Modi's companies," Singhvi said in a statement.

"Neither I nor any member of my family has any interest in or relation to Nirav Modi or his companies. His company was a tenant in some commercial property owned by our family company. This tenancy ended in December 2017. None of us have anything to do even remotely with Gitanjali company, Firestar Diamond International or any other business of Nirav Modi."

He said sensationalism, ignorance and falsehood had exceeded all limits in this irresponsible charge.

"(Defence Minister) Nirmala Sitharaman and her colleagues are liable to civil and criminal defamation for making ill-considered, ignorant and patently false allegations," the Congress leader said.

"I reserve the right to take all such appropriate legal action against the latter and all parts of the media which carry such false and maliciously defamatory allegations," Singhvi added.

Earlier in the day, Sitharaman accused the Congress of wrongly blaming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government for the Rs 11,000 crore Punjab National Bank scam.

She said a building was let out to billionaire diamond merchant and scam accused Nirav Modi's Firestar Diamond International, acquired from Advait Holdings, which had Anita Singhvi, the wife of Abhishek Manu Singhvi, as one of the directors.

She had alleged that all the inheritance, legacy and properties in this case belonged to the Congress.

The minister said that while the Congress was a beneficiary and promoter of the Gitanjali group company, it was blaming the BJP for their own misdeeds.

--IANS

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