BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has urged lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari to remove Congress leader P Chidambaram from the Chairmanship of Home Ministry Standing Committee on the ground that the Delhi Police has registered FIR on files lost and destroyed evidence about Ishrat Jahan case during Chidambaram's tenure as Home Minister in the UPA Government.
In his letter, BJP leader said that continuance of Chidambaram is a serious conflict of interest as Home Ministry is the complainant on the manipulations of and destruction of the documents related to encounter death of terrorist Ishrat Jahan.
"I write this letter to draw your attention to the fact that the Ministry of Home Affairs acting as a Complainant has filed a Criminal Complaint with the Delhi Police regarding the fraud, forgery and or disappearance of papers concerning the encounter death in the Ishrat Jahan incident. For the purpose of investigation of this cognizable offence, persons who managed the key positions in the Ministry of Home Affairs during UPA 2009-2012 will be questioned
"Chidambaram was the Minister for Home Affairs during this period and he has recently been appointed with your approval and on nomination as the Chairman of the Standing Committee for the Ministry of Home Affairs. Hence a serious issue of conflict of interest arises in this matter and the proper ethical step would be to ask Chidambaram to step down from the Chairmanship of the said Standing Committee till further notice depending on how the investigation/chargesheet proceeds and who will be found it for inclusion in the charge sheet," said Swamy.
Two weeks ago, Chidambaram was nominated as Chairman of Home Ministry Standing CommitteeSoon after this, the Delhi Police registered FIR on Home Ministry's complaint on missing of documents. The MHA's probe by the BK Prasad-led panel had found that crucial documents on the encounter death were destroyed. It said the documents were found destroyed and manipulated during its transit between Joint Secretary's office to then Home Minister Chidambaram's office. Currently, the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police is entrusted with the probe in this politically sensitive case.