<div><em>Swaraj has been embroiled in controversies before for being in proximity with offenders, writes<strong> D.P. Sharan</strong></em></div><div> </div><div>Whether it is on humanitarian or other ulterior grounds, the absconding former IPL commissioner, Lalit Modi, is not the only offender who has invoked the blessings of Sushma Swaraj. The outcry over the proximity issue of Foreign Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj with Lalit Modi has, indeed, assumed even greater significance in the light of the fact that she holds a key portfolio in the Government of India and the Modi Government has been left with no option except to stand by her for obvious reasons. But the past bears testimony to the fact that allegations have been leveled against Swaraj to protect the interests of persons of dubious characters time and again - albeit playing different roles in the corridors of power.</div><div> </div><div>If the news archives are to be believed, on two occasions in particular, Swaraj had been embroiled in controversies for being in proximity with offenders. In the most infamous of recent scams, Swaraj's name figured for her alleged connection with scamsters. She was alleged to have provided patronage to the accused such as Reddy brothers - involved in illegal mining - of the erstwhile Yeddyurappa Cabinet in Karnataka and Manoj Jaiswal, an accused in the Coalgate scam from the Abhijit Group in particular.</div><div> </div><div>The two Reddy brothers, G. Janardhan Reddy and G. Karunakar Reddy - both were Tourism and Revenue Ministers, respectively in the B.S. Yeddyurappa Government in Karnataka - were alleged to be kingpins of the illegal mining scam at Bellary and the Belekeri port scam as well in the State.</div><div> </div><div>In 2009, the Supreme Court had appointed a Central Empowerment Committee that recommended action against the Reddys-owned Obulapuram Mining Company and an FIR was filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The Lokayukta or ombudsman of the Karnataka State, Santosh Hegde, had also indicted the Reddy brothers in the illegal mining scandal.</div><div> </div><div>Swaraj was believed to be the political mentor of Reddy brothers who had nothing to do with politics till 1999. As per details available on different websites, the Reddy brothers became public figures during the Lok Sabha elections in 1999 while campaigning for Swaraj who was contesting the election from Bellary against Sonia Gandhi. Although Swaraj lost the election, she remained a patron of the Reddys and kept on frequenting Bellary for reasons best known to her only.</div><div> </div><div>However, when they were implicated in the illegal mining case and the CBI started tightening its noose around their necks, the Reddy brothers called on Swaraj at her residence in Delhi in July 2010, ostensibly in order to demonstrate their political clout to ward off the threat of their possible arrests. Swaraj left no stone unturned to protect the interests of Reddys and when the BJP Central leadership resolved to remove them from the Yeddyurappa Cabinet exercising damage-control measures, Swaraj stepped in to stop the move. They were put behind bars in connection with the illegal mining case in September 2011. Consequently, the first ever BJP Government in southern India could not survive the graft charges against the Reddys and Yeddyurappa had to step down. </div><div> </div><div>Interestingly, the Reddy brothers could succeed in obtaining bail from the Supreme Court in January 2015 - only after the BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014. But, meanwhile, the CBI is investigating the 'cash for bail case' in connection with the alleged connivance by the Reddys to obtain bail from the Hyderabad Special Court judge in the Obulapuram Mining Company case. Subsequently, the Reddy brothers formed their own separate party and proposed to merge with the BJP in 2014. Surprisingly, it was Sushma Swaraj who could not afford to accept the proposal and opposed the merger to the hilt presumably to salvage her own image.</div><div> </div><div>Subsequently, the second controversy sparked off on her link with the accused of the most infamous Coalgate scam, Manoj Jaiswal of the Abhijit Group. Jaiswal was accused of amassing a series of coalblocks by dubious means, using his clout in the corridor of powers. Incidentally, Swaraj's photographs with Jaiswal and his family members - while attending the wedding ceremony of the latter's daughter in Nagpur - were made public and shared on different media portals. Other political stalwarts that included then Union Coal Minister, Sriprakash Jaiswal, L.K. Advani, Nitin Gadkari, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sanjay Nirupam, Vijay Darda were, however, also present on the occasion.</div><div> </div><div>While Sriprakash Jaiswal denied the allegation of having family relations with Manoj Jaiswal and claimed immunity from the charges of being part of the wedding ceremony on the ground that it was attended by Advani and Swaraj too, a few senior leaders of her own party had implicitly questioned the relevance of the presence of Swaraj - apart from Sriprakash Jaiswal and others - on the occasion.</div><div> </div><div>Lalit Modi is a proclaimed absconder in IPL money laundering case and believed to have fled to UK. As such, unlike earlier occasions, the stench of unscrupulous protection by Swaraj to an offender this time amounts to 'perjury' on the part of the Government of India too. The pertinent question is: How can Lalit Modi be an absconder in the eyes of the law of the country while, at the same time, he is in touch with the Foreign Affairs Minister of the country disclosing his whereabouts to seek safety in a foreign country and a passage to move to Portugal for his wife's treatment?</div><div> </div><div>Efforts are afoot by Swaraj loyalists to allay the issue and turn the needle of suspicion on others that may lead to the removal of the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Vasundhra Raje Scindia. She is alleged to have helped Modi to obtain Residency Status in UK and whose son is learnt to have business relations with Modi.</div><div> </div><div>(The views expressed in this column are personal)</div>
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