Arun Jaitley targets Gandhis for ‘vendetta’ charge, says diktat that ‘Queen is not answerable to the law’ was not acceptable in India.
New Delhi : With almost this entire week wasted in Parliament due to the aggressive protests of the Congress members, the government has shot back, alleging that the Congress leadership has no one but itself to blame. Explaining the broad outlines of the controversial National Herald case in his latest blog, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that the Congress leaders had woven their own web of legal troubles and they would have to find their own way out of the mess. In a caustic remark, Jaitley said nobody was above the law. ”The dictat that ”Queen is not answerable to the law does not apply in India”, he said without naming the Congress President. ”By a series of financial transactions, the leaders of the Congress Party created a ”Chakravyuh” for themselves. They have to find their own exit route out of the ”Chakravyuh”.
They have acquired properties worth a huge amount without spending anything. They have used tax exempted income for a non-exempted purpose. They have transferred the income of a political party to a real estate company. They have created huge taxable income in favour of the real estate company”, Jaitley wrote. Attacking the Congress party’s charge that it was a case of political vendetta, Jaitley pointed out that ”the govt, so far, has not taken any punitive action.” ”The Enforcement Directorate has not issued any notice to them. The Income Tax authorities will follow their own procedure”, Jaitley added. Amidst continuous disruption in both houses of Parliament, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi had alleged that it was a case of ”pure political vendetta coming out of the PM’s office”.
In his blog, Jaitley also explained that the National Herald newspaper group had huge properties in several cities but had stopped publishing years ago and its buildings were being used purely for commercial purposes. He also cited how the Congress party had given loaned Rs 90 crores to the National Herald out of the party funds which is exempted from income tax. Jaitley also defended Subramaniam Swamy, the complainant, saying it was every citizen’s duty to report any wrongdoing that comes to notice. However, the FM pointed out that the complaint was filed in 2012, thus reiterating that the government had nothing to do with the case. ”The answer to the Congress party’s leadership landing up in a ”Chakravyuh” is to fight their battle legally and not disrupt Parliament.By disrupting democracy the financial web created by the Congress leaders cannot be undone”, Jaitley concluded.
