Jethmalani flays charges linking with Dawood

NEW DELHI, Aug 5: Urban Affairs Minister Ram Jethmalani in the Lok Sabha described as monstrous8217; the allegation that the designated TADA court in Mumbai had banned his entry on the charge that he had connections with Dawood Ibrahim.

In a personal explanation under Rule 357 of the Rules of Procedure of the House, Jethmalani said that he had refused to appear in the court on his own as he felt that the judge was 8220;perverse and wrong8221; in one of the two TADA cases.

With reference to a charge about a photograph with Adnan Khashoggi which had been referred to, Jethmalani said that the stated photograph had been taken on the night of September 13, 1988 when at the instance of Chandraswamy he had stopped over in Monte Carlo to take a certain document relating to the Bofors case which was in the possession of Khashoggi. He said the photo was therefore 10-years old and not of 1995 and had been stolen from his house. RJD leader Laloo Prasad Yadav asked whether an FIR had been filed. Jethmalani quipped that he wasglad to get rid of the photo.