Letters: Why commit hara-kiri?

Defamation cases filed against news portal The Wire and others by Amit Shah's son Jay Shah will likely not end the political slugfest over his firm recording a turnover of Rs 80 cr in just a year

That defamation cases have been filed against news portal The Wire and others by Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah will likely not end the political slugfest over his firm recording a turnover from a paltry Rs 50,000 to Rs 80 crore in just a year.

That this astronomical revenue jump coincided more or less with Narendra Modi becoming the prime minister and Amit Shah taking the reins of the Bharatiya Janata Party gives the Opposition enough fodder to demand an independent probe. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal’s defence of Jay Shah’s private business dealings was on untenable grounds. He should have confined his rejoinder to the extent of questions being raised over one of the public sector undertakings under the new and renewable energy ministry — then headed by Goyal — sanctioning a loan of Rs 10.35 crore to Shah junior’s firm. 

The ruling party likely fears that the Opposition’s demand for an independent probe would influence people’s perception of the Modi government. But if the dealings are all above board, why commit political hara-kiri by opposing the probe?

S K Choudhury,  Bengaluru

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