Congress demands judicial probe into Amit Shah’s son scam

Hyderabad: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President Capt N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Tuesday demanded a judicial probe into the multi-crore scam involving BJP president Amit Shah’s son Jay Amitbhai Shah.

Speaking to media persons after leading a protest at Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Statue at Tank Bund today, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the growth in revenues by 16,000 times and loans by 4,000% in Jay Shah’s company Temple Enterprise after BJP came to power clearly indicates towards largescale corruption and a major scam. He informed that M/s Temple Enterprise was incorporated in 2004 with Jay Amitbhai Shah and Jitendra Shah listed as its directors. BJP president Amit Shah’s wife, Sonal Shah, also has a stake in the company.

Therefore, all the suspicious financial transanctions involve the entire family of BJP’s national president. Therefore, he demanded that the Centre should constitute a Special Investigating Team (SIT), headed by two sitting judges of Supreme Court, to conduct the probe. He also demanded that PM Modi should direct Amit Shah to resign from all posts to facilitate a free and fair enquiry into this scam.

He ridiculed PM Modi’s famous slogan ‘Na Khata Hoon, Na Khane Deta Hoon’ and described it as another ‘Jumla’.

Uttam Kumar Reddy raised doubts about the very legitimacy of Temple Enterprise Private Ltd that is owned by Jay Amitbhai Shah. He took a dig at Amit Shah if his son has any magic-wand, to increase the turnover up to Rs.80.5 Crores. He mentioned that in the year 2013-14, Temple Enterprise did not own any fixed assets and had no inventories or stock. It also got an income tax refund of Rs 5,796. In FY 2014-15, it earned Rs 50,000 as revenue. However, in 2015-16, the firm’s revenues mysteriously jumped to over Rs 80.5 crores, a growth of 16,000 times.

Uttam Kumar Reddy also questioned PM Modi on how loans from Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) and Kalupur Commercial Cooperative Bank were given to Jay Amitbhai Shah’s stock trading company Kusum Finserve to set up windmill plants at Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh. He said that a stock trading company with no prior experience in renewable energy was given permission to set up a windmill project. He alleged the Modi government seems to have flouted all the rules and regulations to unlawfully favor Jay Amitbhai Shah. He alleged Jay Amitbhai Shah scam is a clear case of crony-capitalism.

The TPCC Chief said that even as 12,000 farmers are committing suicide in India every year under Narendra Modi’s Government, Cooperative Banks which are meant for farmer’s welfare, are giving loans to PM Modi’s suit-boot friends and ignoring farmers.

He alleged that it is the second instance where a BJP leader’s child from Gujarat has been caught in a scam. CM Anandibai Patel and Amit Shah’s children have bent government rules and indulged in corrupt practices to bolster their personal incomes. Both these leaders are closely connected with PM Modi and it speaks about his integrity and honesty.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said while PM Narendra Modi talks about punishing money launderers and cracking down on Swiss bank accounts, he is he silent when his own Party President Amit Shah’s son Jay Amitbhai Shah’s income from foreign earnings rose from Rs. Zero to Rs. 51 crores in one year. He said Amit Sham must explain the sources of this foreign money. He said when the Centre is claiming closure of over 1 lakh shell companies and identification of about 37,000 companies for strong action, how did Jay Amitbhai Shah’s company, which looks like a shell company, escaped from this list.

He suspected that PM Modi and Amit Shah might have tipped their suit-boot friends and their kith and kin about demonetization. He said it is shocking that Jay Amitbhai Shah’s company was closed just one month before demonetization even though it grew exponentially from Rs. 50,000/- to Rs. 80.5 crores revenue the previous year. He said it was a big scam when demonetization led to the death of hundreds of Indians waiting in queues, caused huge losses to lakhs of small businesses and led to millions of job losses; Amit Shah and his son got a windfall profit of Rs. 80 crores because of demonetization.

The TPCC chief pointed that Jay Shah’s alleged scam once again proves that that PM Modi has consistently winked at corruption in all BJP ruled states, be it over Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh, the Rs. 40,000 crore mining scam in Rajasthan, the Rs. 19,000 crore KG Basin scam when Modi was Gujarat’s CM, the Rs. 36,000 crore PDS scam in Chhattisgarh and the Sahara-Birla bribe scam, where PM Modi himself reportedly received money.

Uttam Kumar Reddy condemned the BJP’s organized attack against the journalist who broke the story on social media. He said Amit Shah’s son Rs. 100 crores defamatory suit was an attempt to suppress the media and their freedom of expression. He said India’s ranking on the Press Freedom Index has fallen because of the BJP’s constant attacks on journalists, be it in Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra etc. Uttam Kumar Reddy also demanded that the BJP direct all its members to desist from attacks on the media and journalists, who are the fourth pillar of democracy.

The TPCC chief also alleged that BJP Government is abusing their authority unduly supporting Jay Amitbhai Shah. He questioned why the Union Railway Minister defended Jay Amitbhai Shah and why government lawyer Tushar Mehta has announced that he would defend Jay Amitbhai Shah in court. He alleged that BJP was unlawfully fielding government resources to defend Jay Amitbhai Shah, though he is a private citizen.