)
The Essar group has filed a complaint with the Delhi police over the leak of confidential emails by an employee that suggest the company extended favours to BJP leader and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, certain journalists and ministry employees at various levels.
The emails will form the backbone a proposed case to be filed in the Supreme Court by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL).
Earlier today, The Indian Express published details from the leaked emails that show that the Essar Group, which is promoted by the Mumbai-based Ruia family, funded part of a trip to France and use of its luxury yacht there for former BJP president Gadkari and his family in July 2013.
In his response to the newspaper, Gadkari has admitted to the trip, but said that it was at the invitation of the Ruia family – who he claimed were personal friends, too – and that there was no conflict of interest since he was not in government at the time. The Gadkari family was flown by helicopter from Nice airport to the yatch by Essar. Gadkari is currently the transport minister in the BJP-led NDA government.
Essar group shares did not react to the allegations and traded flat on the BSE today.
The content of emails also show that the Essar group tried to influence journalists and coverage of news related to the company and its business interests. The company allegedly provided cars for in-city transportation to journalists, besides hosting a luncheon for a journalist and his guests at the company’s guest house.
More seriously, the emails reveal in detail how the group was engaged in sourcing vital policy-related developments and documents low- and mid-level officials in various ministries, particularly the petroleum one, which pertains to the group’s core business.
In at least one instance, The Indian Express article shows, Essar executives managed to get a 11-page document from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) with details of an inter-ministerial meeting.
The emails also document Essar group’s practice of ‘reserving’ at least 200 jobs for persons recommended by various political leaders, including Congess’s Sriprakash Jaiswal, Digvijay Singh, former party treasurer Motilal Vora, and Yashbant Narayan Singh Languri, Member of Parliament from Keonjhar in Odisha where Essar has coal mines, as well as BJP’s Varun Gandhi.
The revelations are likely to hurt the Narendra Modi government, which came to power on the slogan of a clean government. An Essar official said it had received anonymous phone calls over the past few weeks from persons who had access to the emails and tried to extort the company with threat of publication. “We have filed an appropriate complaint with the concerned authorities on the theft of data,” a Essar statement said.
The email leaks come on the heels of a corporate espionage racket that has already rocked the government.
The email leaks come on the heels of a corporate espionage racket that has already rocked the government.
