Trinamool Congress dragged finance minister P Chidambaram into the unfolding Saradha scam by questioning the payment of more than Rs 1 crore to his wife by Sudipta Sen, the disgraced chairman of the busted chit fund.
Moving aggressively to contain the political fallout from the unravelling of Saradha, in which thousands have put in their money, Mamata's Trinamool asked Chidambaram to clarify the links of his wife, Chennai-based senior lawyer Nalini Chidambaram, with the Saradha chief.
In an 18-page letter to the CBI, naming all those who were allegedly responsible for the ruination of his company, Sen has claimed he paid more than Rs 1 crore to Nalini Chidambaram at the instance of Manoranjana Singh, the estranged wife of Congress leader Matang Singh. Manoranjana is alleged to have been trying to get Saradha to give Rs 42 crore to set up a TV channel in Guwahati.
Sources close to Nalini Chidambaram dismissed the claim while clarifying that that she represented Manoranjana before the Company Law Board in a case relating to a splitting of assets between her and her estranged husband. The sources also said that contrary to Sudipta's claim, it was Saradha which wanted to invest in Manoranjana's company, and Nalini Chidambaram had actually advised her client against the arrangement.
The sources said that the payment Nalini Chidambaram received from Saradha was in keeping with the regular practice where companies, investors as well as those seeking investments, are charged for due diligence. Further, they claimed that a Bangalore-based audit firm was also paid by Saradha for the same purpose.
'I paid for Nalini's stay in 5-star hotel'
In Sen's letter, which police has confirmed as genuine, the Saradha boss alleged that he paid for Nalini Chidambaram's visits to Kolkata and for her stays in a 5-star hotel. He went on to add that Nalini pressured him to invest Rs 42 crore in Manoranjana's company without "assessing my financial strength".
Sources close to Nalini Chidambaram did not deny that she had received the payment, but said that it was her fee for conducting a due diligence on the Saradha Group on behalf of her client, Manoranjana Singh.
However, Trinamool leapt upon Sudipta's claim to launch an offensive against Chidambaram. "Caesar's wife must be above suspicion. This rule applies for the Trinamool in Kolkata. Does it apply for the Congress in New Delhi?" Trinamool Congress asked in a statement provocatively titled, "Why was a Chennai lady lawyer fixing deals in the Saradha scam? Congress minister must clarify".
Although Trinamool did not name Chidambaram, it was hardly a concession given the offensive tone of the party's statement against the "Congress minister."
TMC shot off five questions to the "Congress minister," to drive home the point. "Senior advocates are usually barred from meeting clients directly. Why did the lady lawyer make an exception in the case of Sudipta Sen? Who was the solicitor? Why were conventions of the legal professional ignored in this 'special matter'?"
It further asked: "One Congress minister's lawyer-wife draws up an agreement to get Rs 42 crore in capital for a former Congress minister's wife for a dubious business project. What was lady lawyer's interest in the venture? Why was she soliciting capital and investments from Sudipta Sen almost in the manner of an investment banker?"
Continuing in this accusatory tone, the statement asked why Manoranjana had to go all the way to the Chennai-based Nalini for something which she could have got done in Kolkata or Guwahati. "The proposed business venture, a television channel and its promoter both belonged to Northeast. So many good lawyers are available in New Delhi and Guwahati. Why did the promoter go to a lawyer in faraway Chennai to draft the agreement and act as a consultant? Was there a hint of political coercion and protection money?"
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