Probe Into Lalit Modi-Dushyant Singh Deal Will Continue, Says Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

Stanford, United States:  Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said assessing authorities in India would continue to do their job with regard to the probe into the over Rs 11 crore transaction between Dushyant Singh and Lalit Modi while asserting that his remarks on this issue were misinterpreted.

“I have never used such a word. That is never part of my domain,” Mr Jaitley told reporters when asked about opposition’s allegations that his remarks that the loan given to Mr Singh by Mr Modi, the former IPL chief, was a commercial transaction, amounted to giving clean chit to the BJP MP.

“That is clear misinterpretation of (what I said). Whatever various assessing authorities in India have to do, its their job. They would continue to do that,” Mr Jaitley said on the sidelines of a public event at the Stanford University.

Mr Singh, son of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, has been under attack over media reports that his company received Rs 11.63 crore in investments from Mr Modi in 2008.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Ms Raje have been facing flak for “helping” Modi in procuring travel documents in the UK, a country which he has made his home to avoid legal processes in India.

Mr Modi, 49, travelled to London in 2010 after the Indian Premier League (IPL) became embroiled in allegations of match-fixing and illegal betting.