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‘Like saying I went to moon’: Bengal Guv rebuts Mamata on Jain hawala case link
West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar said he did not expect a leader of Mamata Banerjee’s “stature to create sensation, engage in misinformation and misrepresentation”.
Kolkata The acrimonious relations between West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and the Trinamool Congress-led state government hit a new low on Monday, with chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleging that Dhankhar was an accused in the 1996 Jain hawala case and branding him a “corrupt man”, a claim that was quickly rubbished by the governor.
“The governor’s name cropped up in the Jain hawala case. They had gone to court and got the name cleared. But again, a PIL was filed, and it is still pending. I am sorry to say he is a corrupt man,” Banerjee said, while speaking to the media at the state secretariat.
Mamata Banerjee said she had written letters to the Centre on three occasions to relieve Dhankhar of the post.
“If the Centre is not aware then I am telling. Bring out the charge sheet and check whether his name was there or not. Why is the Centre allowing a man like this to continue as the governor?” she said.
The Jain hawala case cited by Mamata Banerjee was a reference to a political scandal in the mid-nineties centered around a handwritten diary that mentioned alleged hawala payments of about ₹65 crore. The names of the recipients were written in codes and matched initials of some top political leaders. The Central Bureau of Investigation filed more than 2 dozen chargesheets in this case but the cases collapsed because the CBI didn’t produce any corroborative evidence to prove the bribery charge.
Dhankhar rushed to deliver his rebuttal, declaring that there wasn’t not an iota of truth in Banerjee’s allegations.
“I never expected a leader of her stature to create sensation, engage in misinformation and misrepresentation. I have not been charge-sheeted. There is no such document. This is far from facts. This is plain and simple untruth, misinformation. I have not taken any stay from any court,” Dhankhar said.
“It is as good as saying Dhankhar accompanied Neil Armstrong to the moon,” the governor said.
But to a question, the governor made it clear that he will not sue Banerjee for defamation. “In Indian tradition, no one has ever taken any action against a younger sister. I am not going down that path.”
Trinamool Congress MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, however, sought to punch holes in his denial, pointing that Dhankhar didn’t mention if his name cropped up at some point or not.
“He never revealed whether one of the names, found in the Jain dairy, was his or not. He just said his name was not in the charge-sheet. This could be just half the truth. We would need to probe deeper,” Ray said.
The Jain hawala case cited by Banerjee was a reference to a political scandal in the mid-nineties centered around a handwritten diary that mentioned payments of about ₹65 crore made via hawala. The names of the recipients were written in codes and matched initials of some top political leaders. The Central Bureau of Investigation filed more than 2 dozen chargesheets in this case but the cases collapsed because the CBI didn’t produce any corroborative evidence to prove the bribery charge.
Banerjee’s offensive came hours after Jagdeep Dhankhar, who was on a week-long tour of Darjeeling, alleged that there was corruption in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), the semi-autonomous body that manages Darjeeling and Kalimpong hills in north Bengal. On Saturday, the governor tweeted that there had been no election and audit in GTA since 2017.
“The Governor is deliberately trying to disturb the peaceful situation in north Bengal and hence he met those people who are in favour of dividing north Bengal. He told them to stage a revolt. Is it the job of the governor?” Banerjee added.
Dhankhar’s Darjeeling visit came at a time when a section of BJP lawmakers, including two MPs - John Barla and Saumitra Khan – raised demands for a separate statehood or Union territory status for certain districts in north Bengal. The Bengal unit of the BJP has already said that it neither endorses nor supports the demand.
The BJP, however, said the TMC should respond to the allegations and questions raised by the Governor on GTA.
“The Governor has raised some serious allegations against the GTA. Cases may continue in the court. But are the chief minister’s today’s allegations answers to the questions raised by the Governor? Is she trying to say that because the Governor’s name is in the Jain Hawala case, there can be corruption in GTA? Is she justifying this,” said Jay Prakash Majumdar, vice president of BJP in West Bengal.
