RIL used KG Basin for money laundering: AAP

Allegations False And Defamatory, Says Reliance
New Delhi:Continuing its offensive against industrialist Mukesh Ambani, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday charged the UPA with turning a blind eye while his company — Reliance Industries — allegedly indulged in money laundering and goldplating profits acquired through the KG Basin gas project.

AAP leader and senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan also claimed that Union oil minister Veerappa Moily was in “Ambani’s pocket” and was pliable to do his bidding. He alleged that Moily had, in fact, continued to demand the extension of a “tainted” officer as chairperson of ONGC despite negative vigilance reports.

Elaborating on the “money-laundering” charge, Bhushan said the government had chosen to ignore a letter written by its high commission in Singapore in August 2011, pointing out that Rs 6530 crore had come to India from BioMetrix Marketing Ltd, a one-room company in Singapore that did not do any business. The asset-less company was responsible for the single biggest FDI in India and the money had been invested in Reliance group of companies, including Reliance Gas Transportation which is 100% owned by Ambani, he alleged.

The Commission’s letter also pointed out that the owner of BioMetrix was Atul Shanti Kumar Dayal. Bhushan said Dayal was a “front” for Reliance since he was a director in several of its companies.

In a statement, Reliance Industries said the allegations were “highly defamatory, false, irresponsible and devoid of any merit or substance whatsoever. These false allegations have been repeatedly made and their regurgitation in the media is fuelling an orchestrated, politically-motivated campaign against us”.

The party also accused Moily of seeking an extension for ONGC chairman Sudhir Vasudeva, who is to retire on Friday, and claimed he was appointed by the government despite the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) rejecting his clearance twice.

“CVC had pointed out that apetition relating to KG basin was pending in the high court and that the CVC itself had sought a report from the ministry on these issues,” Bhushan said.

“But Moily overruled the CVC and sought to give him (Vasudeva) an extension against the said recommendation without a vigilance clearance,” he said.
COURTESY:
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
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BJP to back SC-ordered probe of Ambani, gas price

New Delhi:BJP is in favour of a criminal investigation against Reliance chief Mukesh Ambani and the issue of gas pricing if the Supreme Court orders it. Senior party leader and leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley has said he would be happy if the apex court orders a criminal investigation into the matter but he does not support the way Aam Aadmi Party has moved on the issue as it threatens to break down the constitutional structure in the country.

Jaitley also refuted charges that the BJP had maintained silence on the issue saying the party had officially said that the process of gas pricing was not transparent and a Yashwant Sinha-led parliamentary committee had even recommended its re-examination.

Jaitley said, “I will be very happy if court (the SC where two PILs on the issue are pending) orders a criminal investigation into it. But this process that we will break down the constitutional and organizational structures... you will get cheap publicity but not be able to govern in the long run.”

Before demitting office, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal ordered registration of an FIR by the anti-corruption branch on the issue of doubling of gas prices in the country. The FIR named Ambani and petroleum minister Veerappa Moily as accused among others.

Attacking AAP’s way of governance and politics, Jaitley said, “They first create an imaginary issue... an imaginary villain and then attack it. This is their politics.” Jaitley spoke on the issue during a discussion on a TV channel.

Jaitley recalled that the BJP has officially said that the process of gas pricing was not transparent. “Yashwant Sinha was the chairman of the parliamentary committee on finance. The committee had recommended to the government that these prices be fixed again and re-examined. The right way to go about the issue is to go to court or discuss in Parliament,” Jaitley said, adding that CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta had already filed a PIL on the issue in the SC.

Mocking the AAP move, he asked, “Should the Rajasthan government say that because Prime Minister has allocated coal blocks so police should summon the PM. The country has to run but not by anarchy.”

Jaitley, however, conceded that Kejriwal had the strength of honesty with him. Answering a specific question on the issue, Jaitley said, “Anyone who does politics of honesty obviously has some sort of strength with him. But being honest is the bare minimum for politics, it’s not the whole and sole political system within itself.”

Manmohan led India’s most corrupt govt: 
Advani New Delhi: Veteran BJP leader L K Advani has said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has presided over the most corrupt government in independent India. Launching an attack on the UPA government, the senior BJP leader and former deputy prime minister in the NDA government said the decade-long rule of the Congress had driven Parliament to an all-time low.

“Manmohan Singh began his tenure with a clean personal reputation. But as his decade-long tenure is coming to a close, he would leave behind a record of having presided over the most corrupt government in independent India,” Advani said in his latest blog. Advani said the UPA government has driven Parliament to an “all-time low”. TNN
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Kejriwal reads out ‘Swiss bank account numbers’ of Ambanis

Mumbai: Ignoring denials issued previously by the Ambanis, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday reiterated allegations that they held secret Swiss bank accounts and revealed their alleged account numbers.

“A few days ago, I exposed that Anil and Mukesh Ambani have Swiss bank accounts. They have not admitted their fraud. I have the Swiss bank account numbers of Anil and Mukesh Ambani here with me. Shall I read them?” Kejriwal asked a packed hall at the Times of India Literary Carnival on Sunday. “5090160983 and 5090160984, HSBC Bank,” he said.

Reacting to Kejriwal’s latest salvo, a spokesperson for Anil Ambani rejected the allegations. “Mr Anil D Ambani had no bank account with HSBC in Geneva. It is regrettable that such baseless allegations are being made at the behest of vested interests,” the spokesperson said.

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) also rejected the allegations and reiterated its November statement.

Black money: I-T dept not acting against rich, alleges Kejriwal
Mumbai: Reacting to Arvind Kejriwal’s fresh allegations on Sunday, an RIL spokesperson said, “We had already issued a statement on November 9, 2012 that categorically stated that neither Reliance Industries Limited nor Mr Mukesh Ambani have or had any illegitimate accounts anywhere in the world.”

Last month, Kejriwal had alleged that the Ambani brothers had Rs 100 crore each in Swiss bank accounts while their mother Kokilaben also had a Swiss bank account which had no balance.

Kejriwal and his colleague Prashant Bhushan had also accused multinational bank HSBC of running a huge hawala operation to launder thousands of crores of illicit money belonging to leading industrialists such as the Ambanis, the Burmans of Dabur, Naresh Goyal of Jet Airways, Yashovardhan Birla and Congress MP Annu Tandon. All of them had denied the allegations.

Kejriwal said the income tax department had received the Swiss bank details in 2011 but had chosen not to act against the big fish on the list. “The papers are with the I-T department,” he said. “They (the Ambanis) could have been prosecuted but nothing has been done,” he said.

Earlier, Kejriwal had demanded that the government should reveal the names and amounts of all 700 on the list and explain why it has adopted a different method of investigation against high-income individuals while conducting raids on smaller businessmen.

He had said the government’s statement released a day after he made his allegation in November had proved that the list was authentic and that the tax department had decided to proceed selectively on the list handed over by France.

Citing the example of the US and the UK governments, Kejriwal had questioned the government's reluctance to demand information related to Indians who held secret accounts in foreign banks.

While Kejriwal had made the allegations against HSBC and top Indian businessmen at a news conference last month, this time he chose to make his revelations at a gathering of common citizens at the Times Literary Carnival, who roared and whistled their approval and practically drowned out the numbers which the activist-turned-politician read out.

He has made a string of allegations against politicians, political parties and businessmen in the run-up to the launch of his political party, Aam Admi Party, hoping to cash in on the anti-corruption sentiment in the country.
Courtesy:
Shalini Umachandran TNN
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