New Delhi, Oct 8 (The Indian Express): The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party lapped up a media report which said the turnover of a company owned by BJP President Amit Shah’s son increased 16,000 times over in the year following the election of Narendra Modi as prime minister and the elevation of Shah to the post of party president. The Congress sought answers from Prime Minister and the BJP president, and demanded a probe by the ED and the CBI.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said it seems the fortunes of some people have changed after the change of power. He said filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) have revealed that the company owned by Shah’s son Jay started making profits after 2014. The story was reported by The Wire today.
He said in March 2013 and in March 2014, Shah’s Temple Enterprise Private Ltd recorded losses of Rs 6,230 and Rs 1,724 respectively. “In 2014-15 it started making profits…that means there was some change in May and profit ka karvah shuru ho gaya….”
“In 2014-15, the company made a profit of Rs 18,728. The real change happened in 2015-16 and it is shocking…..The company made a turnover of Rs 80 crore in 2015-16. The company started getting loans. One Rajesh Khandwala, who owns KIFS Financial Services, gave a loan of Rs 15.78 crore. And the company stopped business activities in October 2016. And the reason stated was that the company was incurring losses.”
“This is indeed strange,” he said.
“Today, we want to ask our Prime Minister what you now think about crony capitalism. Will you direct the CBI to probe? Will you direct the ED to probe? Will you ask them to arrest them? Because in the case of opposition, the ED immediately sends notice and shows speed in arresting them…If somebody’s name is Jai, Amit and Shah who can arrest them. I can confidently tell you that the Prime Minister will remain silent,” Sibal said.
He alleged he has learnt that the electronic media has been asked not to show his press conference.
“Our pradhan sevak always used to talk about crony capitalism. Even if there is an allegation of Rs 10 lakh against anyone, they set the CBI after them. They set the ED after him. If they want to level any allegation against a Congress leader….there was an allegation of Rs 10 crore against Virbhadra Singh….how many cases did they launch…So we want to ask where is the CBI, ED and where is the prime minister.”
“The Prime Minister will not speak. Because it is about the son of his party’s president. Unhi ki ho jai wo hain? So how suddenly there was a turnover of Rs 80 crore..this company was dealing in agri products….” he said.
Asked where is the criminality, he said, “we are talking about crony capitalism. Criminality will only (be established) if there is an investigation. That will only be determined by an investigation. Why where these loans given through ooperative banks without a mortgage, without proper security. Seven crore was the turnover of the cooperative bank and loan of Rs 25 crore was given…why,” he asked.
He spoke about Kusum Finserve, a limited liability partnership incorporated in July 2015 with Jay Shah owning a 60 per cent stake in it. He said the got company got Rs 25 crore loan from the Kalupur Commercial Cooperative Bank. The board of directors of the bank, he said, include individuals from the Nirma group and Nirma university.
Asked whether the Congress will seek an investigation, he said “investigation is to be done by agencies under their control. Who will listen to the Congress. We just want you to tell the people of India that this is happening in our country. We know who CBI, ED will investigate and who ED and CBI will not investigate. Is the Prime Minister open and honest enough to say investigate the son of Amit Shah. That is the issue.”
“Our appeal to the Prime Minister is that you are the pradhan sevak ….you always say na khaunga, na khane dunga….tho nahin khane dijiye.” “This is the Shah model of business…,” he said.
Defending Jay Shah, BJP’s national IT cell chief Amit Malviya, in a series of tweets, said: “Every new business starts with nil turnover on day one, expands later. What is wrong with legitimate expansion of business? This was a legitimate commodity export import business, where volumes are high and margins are low so 16,000x misleading. Is Jay Shah not allowed to take loan on market rates of interest from a registered NBFC? Where is the favour / impropriety? Since when has taking a loan by cheque become illegal? Jay Shah company took a loan from NBFC, disclosed it in income tax.”
Meanwhile, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi tweeted: “We finally found the only beneficiary of Demonetisation. It’s not the RBI, the poor or the farmers. It’s the Shah-in-Shah of Demo. Jai Amit.”
The AAP also held a press conference. Senior leader Ashuthosh said a FIR should be registered against Jay Shah and a probe should be ordered into his company’s activities.