“The question which arises is, who is this customisation of policy benefiting?”Manish Tewari Congress leader
New Delhi : Assailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his “deafening silence” on the Gujarat land deal row, Congress today sought a clarification from him and demanded that the Supreme Court take suo motu cognisance of the case and order an independent investigation.
“Mr Prime Minister, if this is not corruption, would you care to explain to the country what is corruption. It is a fit case for a court-monitored investigation,” Congress spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters here.
The Supreme Court should take suo motu cognisance of the case and order an independent investigation, he said.
Claiming that certain “new facts” have emerged with regard to the issue, Tiwari said there is a “clear case of impropriety, a clear case of corruption and a definite case of conflict of interest”.
He said the Gujarat government had issued a notification on February 8, 2010, barring commercial activities within a two-km radius of the Gir sanctuary, the only natural habitat of the Asiatic lion. But in October the same year, large tracts of land adjoining the sanctuary were given to a private firm for a pittance.
Later, the ownership of the company changed and the state government came out with a notification, bringing down the restricted area from two-km to one-km around the sanctuary. “The question which arises is who is this customisation of policy benefiting? Who will benefit from flagrant violation of environment law and wildlife protection law?” Tewari said.
