Sinha admits he got supplies from Flex, but adds so what

‘‘My records reveal for the supplies received from Flex Industries, they had submitted five bills amounting to Rs 45,583. This amount was duly incorporated in my statutory return on election expenses filed with the district election officer (DEO) of Hazaribagh Lok Sabha constituency. These records should be available with the Election Commission and DEO,’’ Sinha told the House.

Sinha ruled out any conflict of interest between his assignment and the CBI probe into the bribery case against Chaturvedi and the then Excise Commissioner Someshwar Mishra. He also said he had no hand in the transfer of any official investigating the case, nor had he influenced the CBI. The raids on Mishra’s office were conducted by the CBI on November 7 last year, after which Mishra and Chaturvedi were taken into custody. Since the CBI does not fall under the Finance ministry, said Sinha, he couldn’t be held responsible for its actions. Sinha asserted in the Lok Sabha that neither his dignity as an MP nor his efficacy as a minister could be considered compromised as a result of purchasing election publicity material from the tainted Flex firm. Kailash Sethi, the then deputy director general of the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau, had been on deputation from his parent department of Customs and Central Excise, added Sinha.

His transfer to his parent department in December last year was done on administrative considerations and in the public interest.

‘‘I would like to add that I had nothing at all to do with the transfer of M.S. Bali of CBI as alleged by Bansal,’’ said Sinha.

Though the Congress staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha over Sinha’s reply, the finance minister found a surprise ally in the Samajwadi Party. Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said he found the whole idea of members discussing the issue ‘‘childish and irrelevant’’.

Mulayam reasoned that ‘‘Not only does NDA, but all parties including the Congress take donations during elections. It is not a crime. If somebody fills the petrol tank of my car, will that make me his accomplice in any crime he may have committed? Why are we discussing the matter at all?’’ The treasury bench members thumped their desks in appreciation.

The Congress, led by chief whip Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, expressed its anger at not being permitted by Speaker Manohar Joshi to pose any question to the minister. ‘‘The rules do not permit this,’’ Joshi said, even as Munshi and Congress MP Pawan Kumar Bansal pointed out that the BJP’s Kirit Somaiyya had defended Sinha in the House. ‘‘If some members can be allowed to speak, why not us?’’ they argued. But Joshi stuck to his guns and proceedings in the House soon shifted to a discussion on the Cable Bill.

In the Rajya Sabha too, no member was allowed to raise the issue once Sinha had made his statement.