Cong clears Rajiv’s bills, Rao’s can wait

NEW DELHI, APRIL 30: Congress party circles are in a tizzy these days over a fresh talking point: That while the party has quietly cleared...

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NEW DELHI, APRIL 30: Congress party circles are in a tizzy these days over a fresh talking point: That while the party has quietly cleared Rs 1.86 crore which was due from former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi for using Indian Air Force aircraft for non-official purposes, it is dithering from doing so in the case of former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao, who owes the Government Rs 5.9 crore.

That the Congress is fighting shy of clearing Rao’s whopping dues was apparent from the last hearing (April 18) of a PIL filed in the Delhi High Court, seeking the latter’s direction to recover dues from four former prime ministers, Rajiv Gandhi, P V Narasimha Rao, H D Deva Gowda and Chandra Shekhar for using defence aircraft for non-official purposes during their tenures.

The Additional Solicitor General S B Jaisinghani told the division bench that the Congress which had earlier sought time till March 31 to pay bills run up by Rao in “easy instalments” is now keeping silent.

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The former PM may now be in for legal action — which could be quite embarrassing for the party as well — as the Government has informed the court that it has decided to immediately send legal notices to the defaulting ex-PMs to pay up their dues within 15 days, failing which recovery suits will be filed against them within six weeks.

“This dual policy reflects badly on the party leadership…if the party accepted the liability of Rajiv Gandhi’s dues and paid them without protest, it should have done the same in Rao’s case as well…after all he was PM and party president for five years, even though he may be out of favour now,” a senior CWC member told The Indian Express.

Party circles say that by dilly-dallying over paying Rao’s dues, the party is only sending wrong signals. “A similar thing happened in the case of another former Congress president, who is now having to fight a defamation case slapped on him by the RSS from his own personal expenses,” a party source pointed out.

In December last year, the Congress had deposited the amount due from Rajiv with the Government, clearing his name from the list of defaulters. In Rao’s case, however, the party’s general secretary Oscar Fernandes informed the Defence Ministry on December 29 that “it would not be possible for us to clear the entire amount…kindly allow the payment of these pending bills in easy instalments.”

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The Government then gave the party time till March 31 this year to the party to clear Rao’s dues “to avoid legal action which would be quite embarrassing both for the Government as well as the Congress party.” But the party has chosen not to respond to the Government’s veiled threat.

Following notices issued by the Delhi High Court on the PIL, the Government had written letters to the political parties of these ex-PMs, telling them to cough up the money or face legal action. The political parties were contacted since it was reasoned that most of the trips made by these former PMs were for party purposes.