Dismissing allegations against the government of interference and corruption by former Censor Board members, Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore on Saturday said that the former should be loyal to the Government of India and not to any particular political party.
"People gave a letter stating their reasons of resignation which was dated December 13; this was when the UPA was in power. Rupees 24 lakh was given as funds to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) which they did not use. They could have used it but they were complaining about funds. We would have taken action if any such complaint would have come to our notice," said Rathore.
"The institution of censor board should not be loyal to any party but the Government of India. We had faith that they would keep their loyalty. We gave them time to work and gave them an extension as well. We want to stay on a positive note but now our aim is to form a new, better CBFC in a few days," he added.
Earlier in the day, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Arun Jaitley dismissed the allegations calling the former Censor Board members "rebels without a case" in one of his articles.
He further accused the Congress of politicising the censor board.
Censor Board chief Leela Samson stepped down from her post earlier on Friday, amid controversy surrounding the clearance of controversial film "Messenger of God" featuring Dera Saccha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and citing interference, coercion and corruption of panel members.
Nine other board members resigned following her resignation.
