Hell hath no fury like a man wronged. And at 91 going on 92, Ram Jethmalani bears visible scars of a man who has been expelled by his own party, the BJP, for raising all the ‘right issues’. The veteran lawyer minces no words when he says there is no love lost between him and fellow lawyer Arun Jaitley, now the finance minister in the Narendra Modi government. Hence his open letters to Jaitley, accusing him of not being earnest enough in getting all the black money home. His dislike for Jaitley is in sharp contrast to the passion he displays while arguing for bringing home all the ill-gotten wealth stashed abroad. An admirer of Buddha, Jethmalani doesn’t let that come in the way of pleasure or contradiction. “I love my drink and occasionally catch up on films when I go abroad. Here, I hardly get the time,” he says. He has represented politicians like J. Jayalalitha, just out on bail from jail for charges of corruption. When we catch up with Jethmalani, he is writing yet another open letter to the FM. Excerpts from an interview with Anuradha Raman:
‘When Has Jaitley Ever Talked Of Black Money?’
The veteran lawyer minces no words when he says there is no love lost between him and fellow lawyer Arun Jaitley
M.B. Shah, who heads the SIT, has said there is nothing new in the list of names furnished by the government. Has the NDA submitted a photocopy of some names submitted or is there something new?
I don’t know myself. I will have to seek it from the SIT before I comment on it.
You had written an open letter to Arun Jaitley, accusing him of reneging on the promise to get back all the black money abroad. Having consistently taken the moral high ground before the elections, is an elaborate charade being played out by the BJP now?
I’m so sorry, I’m not talking of the BJP. I’m not talking of the prime minister here. I’m merely talking of Mr Arun Jaitley. I’ve always suspected him and I have been proven right, that’s all (laughs).
What do you mean when you say you always suspected him?
He has no interest in the matter. I saw him as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) when the Germans made an announcement in 2008. (Actually) I don’t know whether he was the LoP then, but I think he was. Even if he was not, I was intrigued that the Germans said we have got these names. I was excited when the government said it had the names. Nearly 1,400 names, and it was known that a majority of those names were Indians. Anybody who has the good of India at heart should have jumped at it. Mr Arun Jaitley, did he even talk about it once? Did he take any step? After all, he was a Member of Parliament. What did he do ever? So that shows that this man has had no interest. I went to the court. Did he even once help me fight the case? Nothing. On the contrary, after I got the judgement, they started plans to evict me from the party. And that also at the insistence of a corrupt police officer.
Are you hinting at mala fide intention here?
Of course. There are people in the BJP who are under the influence of people in the Congress. That’s all.
And Mr Jaitley is one of them?
Obviously he is one of them, by his own conduct.
What would Mr Jaitley gain out of shielding names as you accuse him of doing?
Don’t ask these questions. These are matters of surmise. Nobody can prove it. But in politics, in public life, you take persons whose integrity you are sure of 100 per cent. You may be wrong, but you must have complete belief in their integrity. If any person is of doubtful character, where there is a reasonable doubt about a man’s character, he can’t be trusted in public life. In public life, you cannot say, you want proof beyond like in a court of law, you can’t have doubtful people in office. That’s all. He has proved to be doubtful by conduct by showing no interest in this affair.
You have hinted at his hand behind your expulsion from the party. You make it seem like this is more of a personal battle between you and Mr Jaitley? There is no love lost between the two of you.
Of course, there is no love lost between us. I have not expelled him from the party. I was expelled by the party.
Do you think the BJP has egg on its face?
When did Jaitley ever talk of black money? Poor Modi did. When did Mr Jaitley ever talk of black money?
Is this a loss of face for the BJP?
Unnecessarily you put words in my mouth. I have told you the facts. You draw your own inferences. There was a task force on black money. Men like chartered accountant S. Gurumurthy, R. Vaidyanathan, professor of finance at IIM, Bangalore, were all members. They made a report in which they said the Double Taxation Avoidance Treaty is a dead instrument. And yet, they are using it. I mean, Arun Jaitley is using it. Look at the first question he has answered on July 8 in Parliament. Have you seen that question? What is the answer he has given? That it was under the Double Taxation Avoidance Treaty. Unless the names are disclosed, how is one to know they have disclosed all the names? Each man requires a different investigation.
Are you assuming that every man who has an account abroad has stashed away black money?
Of course not. Any person who has an honest account abroad should come forth and say, yes, I have an account. Having an account in secrecy is prima facie presumption of guilt and you start an investigation on reasonable suspicion of guilt. Not on conviction.
When Mukul Rohatgi and Arun Jaitley say making names public and prosecuting them will be difficult because of the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), what’s wrong?
This is nonsense. Why are they wanting DTAA at all? It deals with honest businessmen who are liable to be taxed on their income in two countries on the same income. And it is only information relating to that affair that is confidential. Not every information about every criminal. I don’t know what they are talking about. This itself deepens my suspicion that they’re out to hoodwink the nation.
My fight was more against cop Neeraj Kumar. Not that Ranjit Sinha is an angel, as we all know now. At that time, I thought it fit to expose what I saw, a conflict of interest with Jaitley fighting Neeraj Kumar’s battle in the Central Administrative Tribunal. When I raised the matter of black money in Parliament, Arun Jaitley engineered a conspiracy with the Congress which staged a walkout. So if people are saying this is a personal battle between Arun Jaitley and me, so be it.
What drives you to relentlessly pursue the cause of black money?
You know that first of all, so much wealth is stolen. Ultimately if distributed among poor, the poverty will go. You are not able to take up projects for betterment of the country; if you had this money, you would have focused on the development. A lot would have happened.
You have also locked horns with Nitin Gadkari.
This matter is known to the government. That’s why I didn’t want him to be in a position of power because I was aware the government would exploit him and blackmail him. I do not wish to speak more on the subject.
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Dear Mr Arun Jaitley...
In a letter Ram Jethmalani was penning to Arun Jaitley when we met him, these were some of his posers:
During the last election campaign for Parliament when our prime minister went around the country and spoke about repatriation of this black money, did you speak about it anywhere or write about it anywhere? Do tell me what and where?
Do you know I went to Germany and on my return recorded my discussions with the highest officials and the promise I received from them about sharing this information with us. This letter was sent to your party leaders. Was a request made to Germany?
Do you know that before you took office, India did ratify this when the Manmohan Singh government was still in power? Yet you did not use it at all. You continued to use the DTAA because it was the favourite device of the previous government.
The German finance ministry spokesman Thorsten Albig said they will willingly share this information at no cost and condition to any requesting country. How did you react to this offer? Did you raise this issue in Parliament?
The Swiss magazine Swiss Illustrierte had announced in 1991 the names, photographs, account numbers and the concealed loot in the accounts of 14 international crooks. Did you as an educated Indian citizen react to this news and if so, how?
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