Dhindsa returns Jaya’s compliment

The Minister denied having ever said that cricketers had amassed wealth ranging from Rs 10 crore to Rs 200 crore. “I denied the allegation as soon as it was reported in the media. I don’t know how Jaya believed them. If only she had bothered to contact me, I would have clarified everything,” he said.

Dhindsa admitted to having made no effort to get in touch with Jaya on his own. He also denied that he has been warned by the Prime Minister or any of his aides for speaking on the match-fixing issue.

Dhindsa was not the only person to have criticised Jaitly’s actions. The entire opposition in Parliament today questioned her tirade against two Union Ministers (Dhindsa and Minister of State for Finance Dhananjay Kumar) in connection with the match fixing controversy.

Raising the issue during zero hour in Lok Sabha, Rasheed Alvi of the BSP said a search warrant had been issued by the I-T authorities for raiding the house of the Samata Party chief but it could not be executed. “The Defence Minister’s house was misused by her (for making statements against the I-T authorities,” he said.

The CPI(M)’s Somnath Chatterjee said it would be impossible for ministers and officials to function if they were being threatened. His party colleague Basudeb Acharia alleged that the order to raid the house of Jaya Jaitly was withdrawn. He also charged her of misusing the residence of the Defence Minister to threaten Dhananjaya Kumar and Dhindsa and demanded to know the government’s views on this. There was however no reply from the government.

Jaya had accused both Dhindsa and Kumar of influencing the probe against cricketers by making statements on their assets and revealing the amount and properties seized during IT raids. It was natural for cricketers like Jadeja who earn a lot by endorsing various commercial products, to invest in property and the ministers’ statements amounted to pre-judging the issue, she had argued.

Dhindsa today chose to not only hit back at her but also speak his mind on the match-fixing controversy by offering a complete amnesty to players who like South African Hansie Cronje, still confessed to their role in match-fixing. “Government will of course take a lenient view of such players and granting amnesty would be an option”, he said.

If a player confessing to his guilt accused on oath a fellow cricketer of being involved in match-fixing, the latter was morally bound not to play till cleared by law enforcing agencies. Did he mean that Azhar who had been accused on oath by Cronje should not play? “Yes and anybody else well if accused on oath”, he said.

While denying having advocated that players facing probe be barred from the game till cleared, the minister said such players should not play on moral ground. Anyway, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was expected to submit its report on proposed code of conduct for players to the Government on August 1, he said.