Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday claimed that report filed by a one-person panel the previous day, which claimed Ishrat Jahan files went missing under the former Home Minister's watch, was just a "fake controversy" created by the National Democratic Alliance government. A report in The Indian Express had claimed that BK Prasad, who conducted the inquiry for the Centre, had not seen the actual documents, and had also coached witnesses on the questions he would ask and the possible answers they could give. Chidambaram used this report to claim the the NDA had been "comprehensively exposed".
The publication said it had a recording to prove Prasad's missteps. A reporter for the news daily had called Prasad regarding another story and overheard him saying, “Aapko kehna hai ki ‘Maine ye paper nahi dekha.’ Seedhi si baat hai [You have to say, ‘I have not seen that paper.’ It’s as simple as that],”
According to the Prasad's report, the files missing in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case were “removed knowingly or unknowingly, or misplaced” when Chidambaram led the Home Ministry. The files went missing in transit from the home minister’s office to that of the joint secretary between September 18 and 28 in 2009, said Additional Secretary BK Prasad, who was tasked with the investigation.
The panel observed that the official record does not have the views sought from then Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily on the second affidavit filed in the case. The second affidavit had said that there was no evidence to link Jahan to the Lashkar-e-Taiba. The 52-page report is based on interviews of 11 officers, both serving and retired, including then Home Secretary GK Pillai, reported dna.
"However, it is a fact that the discussion in the chamber of the Hon'ble law minister regarding the supplementary affidavit has not been recorded by the JS or the HS," the report said. The report quoted sources and suggested that the government may order a Central Bureau of Investigation-led inquiry into the case now.
The Congress had rejected the panel's findings, with party spokesperson Ajay Maken saying, "I do not think that is correct. I do not think any important file could go missing when Chidambaram was the Home Minister. He was a very hands-on minister." The senior leader was the deputy to the home minister during the period mentioned in the report, according to the Economic Times.
In March, Chidambaram had contended that it was his duty as the home minister to fix the first affidavit, which had been drafted without his permission. "Intelligence inputs are only intelligence inputs and not conclusive evidence. I want all files to be put on record. It is incomprehensible why some files are missing," he had said.
Jahan's death in an alleged fake encounter was brought to light once more in February, after Pakistani-American LeT member convicted of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, David Headley, testified to a Mumbai court that she was a member of the terror group.
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