Rahul calls for Jaitley's ouster over Choksi's escape

Pilot said a sinking economy, banking frauds and flying fraudsters form part of Jaitley’s 'New India' and demanded that the minister should resign on moral grounds.

The Congress on Monday demanded ouster of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley accusing him of delaying action against absconding businessman Mehul Choksi while Jaitley's daughter held the legal brief for Choksi.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi led the charge against Jaitley saying his daughter was on the “payroll” of Choksi, while her minister father "sat on his file."

“Arun Jaitlie's daughter was on the payroll of thief Mehul Choksi. Meanwhile, her FM daddy sat on his file and allowed him to flee. She received money from ICICI a/c no: 12170500316,” Rahul said on Twitter with a hashtag #ArunJaitlieMustResign.

Earlier, young Congress leaders Sachin Pilot, Sushmita Dev and Rajiv Satav released copies of bank statements to establish the Rs 24 lakh retainership fee paid by Choksi's firm Gitanjali Gems to Jaitley's daughter Sonali and her husband Jaiyesh's firm 'Jaitley & Associates'.

“These are the people who were officially helping the fraudsters, legally safeguarding them and politically protecting them to escape and run away,” Pilot, the president of the Rajasthan Congress, told reporters here demanding that both the prime minister and the finance minister speak up.

Jaitley's son-in-law had earlier issued a statement stating that his law firm had returned the retainership fee the moment they came to know that the company was involved in a scam.

Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Jaitley, Pilot said that under the BJP government, “an unprecedented 19,000 bank fraud cases involving Rs 90,000 crore” have taken place.

“At least 23 bank fraudsters have left India under their watch after duping the country by over Rs 53,000 crore. The successive escapes of Vijay Mallya, Lalit Modi, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and others reflect that the Modi government is not a guardian of public money but a travel agency facilitating fraud, fleece and fly to foreign shores by willful bank defaulters,” Pilot said.

“Is it not a fit case to sack Shri Arun Jaitley and conduct a full independent investigation?” Pilot asked.