A day after Food and Consumer Welfare Minister Sanjay Kumar Dasburma’s lawyers appeared before Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to furnish documents relating to the two Pajero vehicles owned by him, the beleaguered Minister met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at his office at State Secretariat on Friday.
Dasburma’s meeting with the Chief Minister just before the latter’s five-day visit to New Delhi triggered speculations about his political future. Apparently, the Minister was called by Patnaik to meet him.
Though the reason behind the meeting was yet to be ascertained, speculation is rife that this was in the context of the CBI’s notice to the Minister over his alleged link with scam-tainted Artha Tattwa chit fund company, which offered him a Pajero SUV during the 2014 elections.
Besides, Health Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Energy Minister Pranab Prakas Das, law Minister Arun Sahu and Higher Education Minister Pradeep Panigrahy also met the Chief Minister.
On Thursday, a team of lawyers, led by Dasburma’s advocate Mihir Mohanty, visited the CBI office and submitted documents relating to the Minister’s two Pajero SUVs and other vehicles which are in the names of Dasburma and his family members.
The CBI had issued a notice to Dasburma on April 4 seeing details about the ownership of the two Pajeros, including any vehicle he may have sold or otherwise disposed of. The Central investigating agency had also asked him to give a clarification the next day.
However, Dasburma had sent his representative Gouranga Sahoo to the CBI office on Wednesday to submit the documents, which the CBI officials did not accept. So, he had to send the lawyers’ team on Thursday.