By IANS,
New Delhi : Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Iqbal Singh Sunday admitted that he had recommended that the passport of Hasan Ali Khan, who faces charges of tax evasion and money laundering, be expedited on “humanitarian grounds” but didn’t know him personally.
In a letter to Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Singh said that when he was a Rajya Sabha MP in 1997, a Bihar Congress leader, Amalendu Pandey, approached him for issuance of passport on “compassionate grounds” and that he was told that Khan’s brother was ill abroad.
“I didn’t know Khan at all, neither did I ever meet him. I only issued the letter for expeditious issue of passport… on purely humanitarian and compassionate grounds,” he said in the two-paged letter.
He said that he did not even inquired about Khan, a Pune-based stud farm owner, neither did he verify about his credentials as in necessary for any officer or MP before recommending a passport.
“I didn’t verify his application for the passport which contains a special clause that the officer or MP verifying knows the person personally,” he said.
Singh told reporters in Delhi that he was ready for any kind of inquiry by any authority.
“As an MP, I have written thousands of letter. I am ready to quit if I am asked to but let there be an inquiry first,” he said.
He also denied that he was called by the Enforcement Directorate or any other investigating agency for questioning. “If they come, I’ll cooperate with them.”
“Whoever wants any kind of report from me, I’m ready to give. I have done nothing wrong,” Singh said.