Facing charges of leaking sensitive Defence information to controversial arms dealer Abhishek Verma, BJP MP Varun Gandhi has rejected the charges against him as “false” and “frivolous” and threatened to initiate legal action against those trying to tarnish his reputation.
The Sultanpur MP issued a detailed statement addressed to “my fellow countrymen”, in which he made point by point rebuttal to the allegations levelled against him as he insisted that there is “not one grain of truth or one shred of evidence” in them.
Denying charges that as a member of the Defence Consultative Committee, he was honey-trapped into providing “information on the workings of the Parliamentary Defence Committee, Varun said while he was a member of both the Defence Standing Committee and the Defence Consultative Committee from 2009, never “attended a single meeting of
the Defence Consultative Committee and very few of the Standing Committee”.
“Clearly I was neither actively seeking out nor passing on any information. Had there been any hidden agenda or motivation as alleged in the letter, it would have been reflected in my attendance,” he said.
Swaraj Abhiyan leaders Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav had on Thursday released a letter written by Edmonds Allen, a New York-based lawyer, to the PMO last month that Varun was honey-trapped and compromised by Verma.
Varun says as stated by Allen in his letter, all these allegations have long been furnished by him to the CBI. The case in its entirety has been extensively and detail investigated over several years, on the basis of which chargesheets have already been filed, he said.
“In none of the proceedings has my name ever cropped up, nor has there been any indication of my involvement in any capacity whatsoever. Had these top investigative agencies even the least suspicion or proof of any involvement whatsoever on my part in all these years, it would surely have been reported by now,” he said.
Claiming there is not a grain of truth in charges against him, Varun has made the following seven-point clarifications:
1. I have never met Mr Kdmonds Allen who has written this letter containing these allegations. Nor do I have any details of who he is. Nor what he does except as has been reported in the press of him being a former associate of Mr Abhishek Verma.
2. I first made acquaintance with Verma when I was a college student in England. He was introduced as the son of late Smt Veena and Shri Shrikant Verma, both Members of Parliament from a well respected family. We met socially over a short period of time. It has been many years since we last met. At 110 point, did we ever discuss work neither his nor mine.
3. According to media reports Allen and Verma had some business dealings that went sour. It would seem that a disgruntled Allen is now seeking maximum publicity for his charges against his erstwhile associate. He is, therefore, naming public figures like myself in order to attract greater public attention for his grievances, real or imagined.
I have needlessly been sought to be embroiled into a controversy in which I have no part.
4. The allegations against Verma by Allen have long been the subject of detailed investigations by both the CBI and the ED, and there are ongoing proceedings regarding the same, including chargesheets that have been filed.
5. It is ludicrous to suggest that I was ever ‘blackmailed’ as I had done nothing wrong. It is even more bizarre to claim that I “leaked” top secret defence information from the Defence Parliamentary Committee when every Parliamentarian is well aware that no sensitive defence information is shared with such a parliamentary panel.
6. As a first time MP of the Opposition party I could not have had any access to any confidential information, far from leaking it.
7. This letter has made very serious allegations against me, without any facts, evidence or justification whatsoever. It is unethical that such damaging accusations should have been publicly aired without being scrutinized, verified, or even clarified.