New Delhi: Against the backdrop of leakage of documents from his ministry, Oil and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan today asserted that all those who subverted the system would be punished but made it clear that the government was not targeting any particular corporate. He also said that his ministry is ascertaining whether standard operating procedures (SOPs) for handling confidential information was violated.
“Yeh kisi ek ke bare mein ya kisi ek ki khilaf nahi hai. Hamare ghar mein chori hui hai and humne competent system ko approach kiya is cheeze ko throughly investigate karne ke liye. (this is not about anyone (corporate) or against anyone. Our house has been burguled and we approached the competent authority for investigation,” Pradhan told PTI here. “One thing is clear that this government will not allow anybody to subvert the system. This government is determined to punish those who break law,” he told PTI here.
His comments came as the probe by Delhi Police continued to expand with 12 people, including five executives of private companies, being arrested and raids being carried out at various places. Those arrested include two staffers of the ministry. According to police, some of the accused allegedly used fake ID cards to gain access to Shastri Bhawan, the building that houses the Petroleum Ministry on the second floor, in the middle of the night to get hold of confidential documents and allegedly sold them to purported agents of certain corporates.
The arrested executives belong to Reliance Industries, Essar, Cairn and Reliance Group. “Nobody is above law. Nobody will be spared. Law will take its own course,” Pradhan has said. “Nobody will be spared… nobody can breach law, howsoever powerful he may be… We will not allow anyone to breach the system,” he said.
