Daughter returns ₹24 lakh to Mehul Choksi, Congress demands Jaitley’s resignation

Claiming that there is a collusion between Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and fugitive jeweller Mehul Choksi, Congress on Monday demanded latter’s resignation. The party has alleged that Jaitley’s daughter Sonali Jaitley and son-in-law Jayesh Bakshi's legal firm deposited money in the bank account of Choksi after he had fled the country in the wake of multiple complaints of financial frauds registered against him.

Senior Congress leader and Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee (RPCC) chief Sachin Pilot has alleged that Sonali and her husband Jayesh had received ₹24 lakh in December 2017 from Gitanjali Gems Limited – a firm owned by Choksi, to save him from legal actions, through their law firm Chambers of Jaitley and Associates.

However, after Choksi fled the country, Sonali and Jayesh Bakhshi redeposited the money into Choksi’s account almost two months later on February 20 this year, according to Pilot.

Addressing media at the Congress headquarters, pilot said that Finance Ministry, Enforcement Directorate (ED) including Prime Minister Office (PMO) knew well in advance that Choksi may flee the country, despite that no action was taken.

Referring to the complaints filed against Choksi besides a petition in the Gujarat High Court, Pilot stated that “despite knowing it fully, Jaitley in his capacity of Finance Minister, let Choksi flee the country.”

“Why were daughter and son-in-law of Finance Minister paid ₹24 lakh by Mehul Choksi without doing any work for him? Is this not a clear-cut case of collusion, connivance and the conflict of interest?” asked Pilot.

“Who else are the clients of the Chamber of Jaitley and associates paying retainership of lakhs of rupees and why should their name not be public, including amount received?” said Pilot.

Showing details of the transaction, Pilot questioned why were FM Jaitley, his daughter and son-in-law were not summoned for the questioning by agencies such as CBI/ED?

Head of the Congress Women Cell Sushmita Dev said that there is ample evidence that forms the part of FIR and July 26, 2016 complaint, which has been received and acknowledged by the PM’s Office, before Mehul Choksi fled the country.

“People who owed money to Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi deposited the money with government after their fraudulent escape. Why did Finance Minister Jaitley’s daughter and son-in-law redeposit ₹24 lakh in Gitanjali Limited’s bank account instead of giving it to the government,” asked Dev.

Questioning PM Modi’s silence on the issue and demanding an independent investigation, Pilot said that the Jaitley should reveal names of the other clients also.

He slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him to sack Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for allowing bank frauds to the tune of ₹90,000 crore and letting fraudsters like Choksi and Mallya flee the country.

Earlier, Pilot slammed the BJP for allegedly saving the 'Economic Terrorists' indicating the Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi fraud cases.