Modi's demonetization implementor Shantikanta Das is Chidambaram man: Swamy

Shantikanta Das

Hardline BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy has directed his guns against Union economic affairs secretary Shantikanta Das, who has been one of the chief implementors of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's November 8 demonetization move, calling him a "Chidambaram confidante", and asking Modi not to make Das new Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairman.
Belonging to Tamil Nadu, Das, who is known to have defended Modi's noteban as no one else, retires from IAS in February this year. Das is Swamy's third major target in Modi's economic team, the first being former Reserve Bank of India director Raghuram Rajan, followed by chief economic adviser to the Union finance ministry Arvind Subramaniam. Rajan resigned in September 2016.
In a letter dated January 7, 2017 to Modi, Swamy, Rajya Sabha MP, has accused Das of siding with the corrupt, saying, the latter "was widely perceived as acting to protect the interest of Chidambaram in his financial affairs", in cases such as "2-G scam, Aircel-Maxis scam, NSE fraud, manipulation of stock market etc."
Swamy cites a report in a well-known pro-BJP daily as saying that Das is “all set to become the next SEBI chief after the extended tenure of UK Sinha, who has been at the helm of the watchdog since February 2011, ends on March 1 this year.”
According to the report, three senior bureaucrats, including Das, have been selected for the top SEBI post, including Unio power secretary PK Pujari, a Gujarat cadre IAS bureaucrat, and additional secretary in the finance ministry Ajay Tyagi were also included in the list.
Swamy traces “close” relations between Chidambaram and Das to the latter's former postings in Tamil Nadu, where, according to the BJP leader, Das came under “very adverse attention for several corruption matters from land allotment to foreign collaboration agreement.”
Swamy says, Das "helped Chidambaram by delaying unduly investigations that were being done" under the Supreme Court, giving the example of a letter forwarded by former CBI director Anil Sinha to Das on September 17, 2015, "wherein the CBI director pleaded" with Das to provide "necessary clarification" in the Aircel-Maxis scam.
Das, says Swamy in the letter, "stalled the further investigation by not replying and thus the interrogation of Chidambaram", adding, "The matter has now been brought out from the cold storage of the Ministry of Finance after Rakesh Asthana took over as acting director."
The result is that, Swamy says, on January 6, 2017, "in the court of Chief Justice of India my interloculory application No 78 on Aircel-Maxis cam was taken for the purpose of proceeding with further investigation into Foreign Investment Promotion Board illegal clearance approved by Chidambaram."
Accusing Chidambaram's son of "receiving payments as beneficiary from Maxis company of Malayasia, as revealed by the investigation by the Enforcement Directorate in 14 countries", Swamy says, under such circumstances it would be "wholly improper" to appoint Das as chairman of SEBI, calling such a move to be "entirely inconsistent" with the "anti-corruption campaign" of the BJP.

Comments

When Pakistanis whispered: ‘end military rule’ — A Moscow memoir

During the recent anti-terror operation inside Pakistan by the Government of India, called Operation Sindoor — a name some feminists consider patently patriarchal, even though it’s officially described as a tribute to the wives of the 26 husbands killed in the terrorist strike — I was reminded of my Moscow stint, which lasted for seven long years, from 1986 to 1993.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

RP Gupta a scapegoat to help Govt of India manage fallout of Adani case in US court?

RP Gupta, a retired 1987-batch IAS officer from the Gujarat cadre, has found himself at the center of a growing controversy. During my tenure as the Times of India correspondent in Gandhinagar (1997–2012), I often interacted with him. He struck me as a straightforward officer, though I never quite understood why he was never appointed to what are supposed to be top-tier departments like industries, energy and petrochemicals, finance, or revenue.

Environmental report raises alarm: Sabarmati one of four rivers with nonylphenol contamination

A new report by Toxics Link , an Indian environmental research and advocacy organisation based in New Delhi, in collaboration with the Environmental Defense Fund , a global non-profit headquartered in New York, has raised the alarm that Sabarmati is one of five rivers across India found to contain unacceptable levels of nonylphenol (NP), a chemical linked to "exposure to carcinogenic outcomes, including prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women."

PharmEasy: The only online medical store which revises prices upwards after confirming the order

For senior citizens — especially those without a family support system — ordering medicines online can be a great relief. Shruti and I have been doing this for the last couple of years, and with considerable success. We upload a prescription, receive a verification call from a doctor, and within two or three days, the medicines are delivered to our doorstep.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Revisiting Gijubhai: Pioneer of child-centric education and the caste debate

It was Krishna Kumar, the well-known educationist, who I believe first introduced me to the name — Gijubhai Badheka (1885–1939). Hailing from Bhavnagar, known as the cultural capital of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, Gijubhai, Kumar told me during my student days, made significant contributions to the field of pedagogy — something that hasn't received much attention from India's education mandarins. At that time, Kumar was my tutorial teacher at Kirorimal College, Delhi University.

A sector under siege? War and real estate: Navigating uncertainty in India's expanding market

I was a little surprised when I received an email alert from a top real estate consultant, Anarock Group , titled "Exploring War’s Effects on Indian Real Estate—When Conflict Meets Concrete," authored by its regional director and head of research, Dr. Prashant Thakur. I had thought that the business would wholeheartedly support what is considered a strong response to the dastardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor.

Search This Blog