["BJP suffered another blow on Tuesday when Former Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said she was not consulted on Lalit Modi visa issue." (Source: <http://www.india.com/news/india/sushma-swaraj-lalit-modi-row-sujatha-singh-denies-being-consulted-on-lalit-modi-visa-issue-423412/>.)
"Sushma Swaraj's husband Swaraj Kaushal was Lalit Modi's lawyer for 22 years and her daughter Bansuri has been his lawyer for seven years." (Source: <http://www.ndtv.com/cheat-sheet/in-lalit-modi-row-foreign-minister-sushma-swaraj-has-bjps-support-10-developments-771670>.) "The ‘humanitarian’ argument is specious. Lalit Modi had maintained that he needed to be present by his wife’s side because he had to sign ‘consent papers’ for her surgery. But Portuguese laws do not stipulate any such compulsory procedure." (Source: <http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/talking-terms/sushma-swarajs-lalit-modi-connection-too-many-black-grains-in-these-lentils/>.)] I/III. http://thewire.in/2015/06/16/lalit-modi-is-a-small-symptom-of-the-continuing-malaise-of-crony-capitalism/?utm_content=buffer543f8&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer Lalit Modi is a Small Symptom of the Continuing Malaise of Crony Capitalism BY MK VENU ON 16/06/2015 The real essence of cronyism flows from how deeply the link between business and politics is embedded in the larger system, and no individual politician has the power to alter this IF THE SHOE FITS: Lalit Modi being measured for a pair of bespoke shoes in Italy. From Modi’s public Instagram account. There can be no doubt that the NDA government’s image has been badly dented by the new scandal involving Lalit Modi – a man facing serious money laundering charges in India – for whom external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj personally short-circuited the system so that he could procure travel papers on “humanitarian grounds”. The government’s defensive attitude was visible on Monday as the opposition mounted a serious attack on the BJP, prompting the Enforcement Directorate to issue fresh notices late evening against Lalit Modi. Perhaps this was the government’s way of signalling that its favour to the controversial former IPL cricket commissioner was limited to helping him travel from London to Portugal to see his ailing wife, and that it did not extend to diluting the serious money laundering charges against him. However, this alone may not work as pressure will now mount on the government to bring to trial Lalit Modi and many other businesses against whom serious charges are pending. The ED, such as it is, seems to get clear signals from time to time on how to proceed against well known businessmen who formally face money laundering charges. The pace of investigation varies according to how close these businessmen are to the political establishment. One just has to look at some of the pending money laundering cases at the ED and the CBI to understand how the nexus between the political class and big business operates. This happens across the board, whether it is a BJP or Congress-led government. For instance, there are serious charges of over-invoicing of imports against the Adani Group, running into thousands of crores, which may lie dormant at the Enforcement Directorate for some years as Gautam Adani is seen as very close to the establishment. Of course, the Prime Minister and other cabinet ministers can easily claim later that they have done no favour to the Adanis as the case will not have been dropped. But then the Adani Group will also not be proceeded against with much vigour either. In this manner, many cases are kept in suspended animation. The Lalit Modi case is no different. However, one exception to this has been the manner in which a serious money laundering case against Baba Ramdev, who runs a Rs.1000-crore plus business empire, was dropped recently for “want of evidence”. Ramdev was ‘gifted’ an island in Scotland, nothing less, by some NRIs. The Enforcement Directorate had registered a case as prima facie it appeared to be a money laundering exercise. Again, as is its wont, after keeping the case going for some years the agency has closed the case. The CBI, ED and other investigative arms of the government are looking at money laundering charges pertaining to the 2G scam, Coalgate etc but it is safe to assume that these will remain in limbo for a long time to come. It is surprising that the BJP, which rode to power by campaigning around the 2G scam, has not done anything to speed up the money laundering cases so apparent in many of the complaints filed by the CBI which are under trial. It seems most of these cases will die a natural death, as has been the experience in the past. The Lalit Modi episode has also badly dented the Prime Minister’s claims that there is no crony capitalism-driven corruption at the top level of the NDA. This claim was so tenuous that it was only a manner of time before it got exposed. The continuing cronyism was bound to emerge because the systemic, long-term nexus between the political elites and big business will not go away anytime soon, as has been demonstrated by the Lalit Modi case. Will an ordinary citizen ever get access to the kind of bespoke, special treatment that Lalit Modi received? Actually, when Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley claim there has been no crony capitalist-driven scam in the NDA government at the top level, they make a very narrow interpretation of cronyism. What they mean is that there is no personal quid pro quo between them individually and the businesses for whom they make policies. However, this narrow definition of crony capitalism does not capture its real essence. The real essence of cronyism flows from how deeply the link between business and politics is embedded in the larger system, and no individual politician has the power to alter this. The Indian banking system, for instance, is today saddled with about Rs. 5 lakh crore of what may be described as bad and vulnerable loans. A substantial portion of this is lying in the balance sheets of a dozen family-owned business houses in the country who are politically well-connected and have used their clout to set up businesses ranging from roads, power, telecom and construction largely on borrowed funds from public sector banks. These businesses are regarded as too big to fail and therefore get endless support from banks. RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan took a dig at such business houses sometime ago, saying they thrive in good times as well as bad times through what he described as “risk free capitalism”. The real issue is whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi has the power or will to jettison this system. This is the real test of whether the government can remove cronyism. It is not about personal corruption, which is a very narrow way of looking at the phenomenon. Unfortunately, this system has not been touched because the same family-owned industrialists who have run up massive ‘restructured’ debt – the euphemism used by bankers to describe the extended repayment period they enjoy – with public sector banks, continue to enjoy the respect of the state apparatus. One telling example will illustrate this point. At the Modi-Obama reception at Rashtrapati Bhawan, about two dozen industrialists had been invited and were seen standing in a queue to greet the US President. About 6 to 8 of those present collectively owe close to Rs. 3.5 lakh crore to banks, mostly PSU banks. The banking industry in India has about Rs.5 lakh crore as total capital and nearly 70% of it is exposed to just a half a dozen industrial houses. Technically, if these business houses were to go bust, 70% of India’s banking capital will get wiped out. In short, they are too big to fail. So they have no worries really, as the system sustains them. This is the real cronyism that plagues India. No less an establishment figure than the RBI Governor has already drawn the attention of the government to it. Do Narendra Modi or Arun Jaitley have the will to alter this arrangement? Lalit Modi is just a small symptom of a much bigger malaise. II/III. http://www.firstpost.com/politics/lalit-modi-controversy-ex-mea-officials-insist-sushma-swaraj-broke-rules-to-help-2297446.html Lalit Modi controversy: Ex-MEA officials insist Sushma Swaraj broke rules to help by FP Politics Jun 16, 2015 14:17 IST Despite the calls for the Prime Minister to sack her, Sushma Swaraj remains the External Affairs Minister as she continues to face flak for allegedly aiding former IPL chief Lalit Modi get travel documents to travel outside UK. The BJP and Swaraj's defence has hinged on the fact that all she did was discharge her duties and attempt to act in a humanitarian manner, Lalit Modi's lawyer on Monday also lauded the minister saying that his client had always been in compliance with British laws. Reuters image "No proceedings in any court of law has declared him an offender or a fugitive. He is staying in London with the full knowledge of and complying with British laws," Mehmood M Abdi said. Abdi said the Interpol secretariat had clarified that there was no "blue notice" against Modi. Speaking on the Buck Stops Here on NDTV, former diplomat KC Singh also agreed with the fact that many Indian investigating agencies used the revoking of the passport as a means to harass a person accused in a case. However, he was very clear about one thing. What Swaraj did was wrong. "Even if it was (done for) Mother Teresa it wasn't right," Singh said. He pointed out that the minister should have ideally issued a notice to the Enforcement Directorate, understood the status of the notice issued against Modi years earlier and whether they intended to take action. At no point so far has the government stated that Swaraj contacted the ministry of finance, under which the enforcement directorate operates, or Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. "The route to go was to tell the agency that you are being harsh," Singh said. Singh said a temporary passport could have been issued in case the Enforcement Directorate said it had no objection. "To me, this looks it make be contempt of the judge who issued a summon," Singh said. The former diplomat said that the incident smacked of "multiple misdemeanours" and "conflicts of interest". He also dismissed the argument that Swaraj did enjoy some discretionary powers when it came to such issues. "There is no discretion to go outside your system and circumvent an existing notice," Singh said. Singh's argument finds further basis in a statement from the nation's former top diplomat. Former foreign secretary Sujatha Singh, who was foreign secretary when the incident took place, told the Indian Express that she hadn't been consulted on the matter at all. "I knew nothing about this...Zero," she was quoted as saying in the paper. A DNA report also points out that officials in the Ministry of External Affairs still aren't clear about whether the 2012 notice to Modi stands and whether the Indian government was seeking to repatriate the former IPL chief. The officials said that as per protocol Swaraj should have told Modi to approach the Indian high commission and country-specific travel documents could have been issued. Instead as Swaraj pointed out in her tweet, she instead contacted the British High Commissioner in Delhi to indicate that the issuing of documents to Modi wouldn't affect India-UK ties. As Firstpost's G Pramod Kumar pointed out, while Swaraj's actions may not fit in the popular definition of corruption, it doesn't escape it either: "Corruption is not just about money and defies simple definition. In fact, because of this complexity, the UN convention against corruption in 2002 even chose not to define it and listed examples that make corrupt practices. Favouritism, nepotism and clientelism; abuse of discretionary powers; exploiting conflict of interests; and political contributions are among the practices that the UN has listed as corruption." But despite all this Swaraj may be safe for now, with sources reportedly telling the Telegraph that the Prime Minister had no intention of letting what many say in his best minister leave just yet. Having weathered similar storms as Gujarat chief minister, with his then deputy Amit Shah, the Prime Minister is keen to not 'buckle' under political pressure. However, the Prime Minister has taken care to dissociate himself completely from her decision. "The PMO was not in the know. Had Sushmaji spoken to the Prime Minister, he would have stopped her," one of the sources said. For now Swaraj's position may be safe. But despite a strong defence put up by the foreign minister and her party, the discretionary use of her powers means that the cloud over her won't dissipate any time soon. III. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Sushma-Swaraj-Lalit-Modi-row-Congress-demands-SC-monitored-SIT-probe-BJP-terms-it-a-non-issue/articleshow/47688939.cms Sushma Swaraj-Lalit Modi row: Congress demands SC-monitored SIT probe; BJP terms it a 'non-issue' TNN | Jun 16, 2015, 02.15 PM IST NEW DELHI: The war of words between Congress and BJP continued on Tuesday over the issue of Sushma Swaraj's help to former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi. While Congress on Tuesday accused the Modi government of protecting Lalit Modi and demanded that the Supreme Court should set up a special investigation team to probe the issue, the BJP said the the opposition party was "frustrated" and had shown its "complete bankruptcy" by using a "non-issue" to target external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj. Addressing a press conference, Congress leader Anand Sharma said that "Modi ministers are hiding facts and they all are protecting a wanted offender". "What Sushma Swaraj did was unwarranted. Moreover, the row is not about Lalit Modi's travel papers but about protection being given to him," Anand Sharma said. "We have to ask PM Modi directly, why is he quiet? Can there be different set of rules when you talk of probity," Anand Sharma asked. "Lalit Modi has declared himself bankrupt but he is holidaying despite bankruptcy," Sharma said. READ ALSO: 'Sushma offered to quit before controversy broke' No court has declared Lalit Modi an offender or fugitive, his lawyer says Sharma said that we also want to know "what have the ED and other government agencies done since 26 May 2014 to apprehend Lalit Modi". "Not only the external affairs minister but the entire government was keen to help Lalit Modi to get his passport," Anand Sharma added. 'Frustrated' Cong raising a 'non-issue': BJP "They (Congress) are bereft of ideas. They want to make a non-issue an issue which will never become an issue... it shows the complete bankruptcy of Congress," Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters at the Chennai airport. "Congress has lost the plot and is frustrated because people of the country have reposed their faith in Modi government and Congress cannot digest this," Javadekar said. Referring to Congress releasing photos showing Lalit Modi with Swaraj besides Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, the Union environment minister said the picture was five years old when Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat and also the head of the state cricket association with Shah being his deputy in the board. Terming as "baseless" the charges against Swaraj, he said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son and vice-president Rahul Gandhi have been clicked "practically with all coal scam accused, 2G (spectrum allocation) scam accused and Aircel-Maxis scam accused," besides those accused of CWG scam. Seeking to turn the tables on Congress, Javadekar said that even its leaders had been spotted with Lalit Modi. "We have won the faith of poor people. Congress cannot digest this. So they are levelling these charges. They are baseless charges. After Sushmaji's clarification, there is no issue at all," he said. Swaraj is in the centre of a controversy for helping Lalit Modi, who is facing charges of misappropriation of funds in IPL and currently staying in London, get documents to travel to Portugal for his wife's medical treatment. She had reasoned that she had helped him on "humanitarian" grounds. (With inputs from agencies) -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
