New Delhi :
Congress president Rahul Gandhi launched an attack on Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley of helping fugitive diamond merchant Mehul Choksi in fleeing from the country.
The Congress has alleged that the Finance Minister’s daughter Sonali Jaitley and son-in-law Jaiyesh Bakshi’s legal firm – Jaitley and Associates – had received Rs 24 lakh as retainership fee from Choksi’s company, Gitanjali Gems Limited, in December 2017, just a month before the diamond merchant left the country. The party has demanded that FM resign on moral grounds.
“Arun Jaitley’s daughter was on the payroll of thief Mehul Choksi. Meanwhile her FM daddy sat on his file & allowed him to flee,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted. He also gave the account number, from which, he said, the minister’s daughter had received funds.
Arun Jaitlie’s daughter was on the payroll of thief Mehul Choksi. Meanwhile her FM daddy sat on his file & allowed him to flee.
She received money from ICICI a/c no: 12170500316
It’s sad that media has blacked out this story. The people of India won’t. #ArunJaitlieMustResign
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 22, 2018
The Congress cited this as ‘conflict of interest’ since several departments of government including the Finance Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office had received complaints of fraud against Choksi as early as May 7, 2015.
Jaiyesh Bakshi has issued a statement saying his law firm had returned the retainership the moment they came to know that the company was involved in a scam.