NEW DELHE: The Supreme Court last week directed Chandraswamy not to make any attempt to leave the country without the express permission of the court.
The direction was given by a three judge Division Bench, headed by Mr. Justice J.S. Verma, and came on an interim application moved by Mr. Anukul Pradhan in a pending petition seeking arrest and prosecution of god man,
The count also directed the Union Government to take necessary steps to ensure full compliance of the court directives to god man.
While the counsel for Chandraswamy gave an undertaking before the Apex Count had godman Would not leave the country for the next 10 days, the court however said that it considered it; Appropriate that in addition to this undelaying w give an “express direction to god man to make o attempt to leave the country till further orders and without the express permission of the country during the pendency of the present petition.”
The application had feared that if Chandraswamy was allowed to go abroad he would not return.
The court listed the matter for further hearing on December 7, while directing Chandraswamy to file his reply to the interim applications by that time.
‘The former Union Minister, Mr. Ant Mohammed Khan on Dec. disclosed before the Jain Commission how the: controversial Chandraswamy used him as an emissary 10 tell Mr. V.P. Singh that he possessed details of his St. Kits “bank account.”
Mr. Khan’s testimony implied that Chandraswamy wanted to convey that he would keep the “evidence” of a secret account purportedly maintained by Mr. V.P. Singh and his son under years, provided the politician “requested” him to do so.
Mr. Singh refused to go along with Chandraswamy’s suggestions The “photocopy” of the account details were later described as a forgery.
The photocopy was showed to Mr. Khan at godman’s Delhi Ashram, Chandraswamy allowed Mr. Khan to note down the details and asked him to tell Mr. V.P. Singh that if he makes ‘a “request” the matter can be “set right.”
When Mr. Khan conveyed the message to Mr, Singh, and the minister replied that he did not need Chandraswamy’s help. According to the witness, Mr. Singh said that Chandraswamy could go ahead with his plan to make the “document” public. He would react only after the paper had been made public.
Mr. Arif Khan said when Mr, V.P. Singh became the Prime Minister, Chandraswamy went abroad, Mr, Khan received a couple of phone calls from New York from godman, who asked him not to disclose that Chandraswamy had shown him the St. Kitts paper. Mr. Khan said he could not concede to the request.
He said while showing him the purported St. Kitts paper, Chandraswamy said he would “finish off” Mr. V.P. Singh, ‘This was the third day of Mr. Khan’s deposition before the one man commission probing the conspiracy angle to the Rajiv Gandhi assassination. Much of the day was spent in an examination of the witness by Prof, KK. Tewary, a former minister and the breakaway Congress leader.
At one point, Mr. Khan agreed with Prof Tewary that relations of a man like Chandraswamy with the Prime Minister, Mr. P.V. Narasimha Rao, Could pose a threat to the security of the nation. Mr. Khan described Chandraswamy 48 a blackmailer, He felt that Chandraswamy was not being arrested because of his clout those in Power.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 8, 1995
