PC Oppn target again,this time conflict of interest

Delhi govt u-turn: decides not to withdraw cases against hotelier minister

Alleging conflict of interest,the opposition today demanded the resignation of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram,saying that the home ministry had directed the withdrawal of three FIRs against a Delhi hotelier charged with cheating and forgery who was once the ministers client.

After an uproar in parliament that disrupted both houses,Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna revoked the withdrawal of prosecution against S P Gupta,owner of Sunair Hotels and the five-star Metropolitan Hotel in the city.

Denying the oppositions charge,Home Secretary R K Singh said that Chidambaram had nothing to do with the withdrawal of the cases that decision had been taken by a screening committee. Singh also added that the home minister is unable to recall at this distance of time whether he appeared in a case concerning M/s Sunair Hotels Pvt Ltd between 1999 and 2003.

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The three FIRs relate to Gupta reportedly misusing the names of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to allegedly defraud a firm,VLS Finance,to the tune of several crores.

Gupta sent a representation to the home ministry saying the dispute between Sunair Hotels and VLS Finance was essentially a civil dispute and did not involve any criminal liability.

On March 18,the law ministry said the cases should be examined under Section 321 of CrPC (withdrawal of prosecution) with the consent of court.

Home Secretary Singh said today that the decision to withdraw the cases,taken by a screening committee,was approved by the L-G on November 18.

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The screening committee was headed by the principal secretary (home) and included the law secretary,Delhi,and a representative of the Delhi Police.

Subsequently,the director (prosecution) filed applications for withdrawal of cases in the court. However,the court is yet to take a decision in this regard.

Singh said the draft of the letter sent by the home ministry to the Delhi government for withdrawal of the FIRs had not been shown either to the home minister or the home secretary or the joint secretary. The home minister had no role in withdrawal of the case, he said. Also,the letter didnt advise quashing of any case, said Singh.

It only conveyed the advice rendered by the ministry of law and the decision had to be taken by the competent authority. Let me clarify that no decision was taken in the case in MHA.

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As per our records,the home minister saw the file only once on May 4 and,thereafter,the file was not sent to him for orders. A letter was sent by a director-rank officer on May 9 to the principal secretary (home),Government of Delhi,conveying the advice of the ministry of law with the suggestion that the FIRs may be scrutinised under Section 321 of CrPC, Singh said.

Meanwhile,in a release issued here,P Dhingra of Sunair Hotels claimed that this wasnt the first time that the company had made a representation to the MHA for withdrawal of cases.

The company has been repeatedly writing since 2005 that the cases are false and civil in nature. This has been wrongly stated that the request for closure was made since Mr Chidambaram took over as home minister in 2008. The company first wrote to home secretary (UT) for the first time in 2005 and to home secretary in 2006 for closure of FIRs and has written to then home minister Shivraj Patil in 2006. Our company has been made a scapegoat in the entire political episode, the release said.