New Delhi: Under attack for helping fugitive former IPL boss Lalit Modi obtain travel documents in UK, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday hit back at a TV journalist who had raked up the issue of propriety in the matter.
"Look who is preaching propriety -of all the persons," Swaraj tweeted.
Look who is preaching propriety - of all the persons Navika Kumar !
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) June 15, 2015
Swaraj has been under attack by political parties and others for helping scam-tainted Modi to obtain British travel documents after the disclosure of emails showing that she had spoken to Indian-origin British MP Keith Vaz and its High Commissioner here James Bevan seeking favours for the former cricket administrator, who had to go to Portugal, purportedly for his wife's cancer treatment in June last year.
After the reports surfaced, 63-year-old Swaraj said in a series of tweets that she had taken a "humanitarian view" and conveyed to the British High Commissioner that they should examine Modi's request as per their rules and "if the British government chooses to give travel documents to Lalit Modi that will not spoil our bilateral relations".
Taking a humanitarian view, I conveyed to the British High Commissioner that "British Government should examine the request of
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) June 14, 2015
What benefit did I pass on to Lalit Modi - that he could sign consent papers for surgery of his wife suffering from Cancer ?
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) June 14, 2015 He was in London. After his wife's surgery, he came back to London. What is it that I changed ?
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) June 14, 2015
She has been strongly supported from the government and the BJP, which rejected opposition demands for her resignation over alleged "impropriety".
Noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan said that a minister helping the ex-IPL Commissioner was "completely wrong". He demanded a strong conflict of interest law to deal with such cases.
"Instead, BJP is weakening the prevention of corruption Act by removing even criminal misconduct from it. This shows that the Narendra Modi government is not committed to fighting corruption," Bhushan said.
"In my view, she should resign, but that is for the BJP people to decide," added Bhushan.
Swaraj is at the centre of a major row over helping Lalit Modi to obtain British travel documents but found strong support from the government and the BJP, which have rejected opposition demands for her resignation over alleged "impropriety".
The genesis of the controversy was disclosure of emails showing that she had spoken to Indian-origin British MP Keith Vaz and its High Commissioner here, James Bevan, favouring the grant of travel documents to Lalit Modi to go to Portugal, purportedly for his wife's cancer treatment in June last year.
Modi, who is wanted in India, has made London his home since 2010 to avoid a probe into alleged foreign exchange regulation violations in the T20 cricket tournament held in South Africa in 2009. The previous UPA government had revoked his passport and pressed for his extradition.
