CHANDIGARH: Former Union Civil Aviation Minister Harmohan Dhawan has refuted the allegation of his involvement in the hawala scandal and of having taken Rs 110 lakhs from S.K. Jain, as mentioned in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBD) charge sheet.
In a sequel to the CBI charge, Mr, Dhawan has declared his assets and challenged the Government to go ahead and prosecute him. “If proven guilty, I will offer my head before the people,” Mr. Dhawan said while accusing Prime Minister Narasimha Rao of indulging in “immoral political vendetta.”
Mr, Dhawan, while releasing the list of his assets, denied that he was ever a classmate of S.K. Jain at Ambala, but admitted that he had met Jain on a few occasions while he was a minister. “But I categorically state that I have never taken any money from Jain either for myself or for the party,” he said at a Press conference on Wednesday.
He insisted that his initials were not “HMD” as referred in the Jain diary, Mr. Dhawan said that he had full faith in the judiciary and the people.
“I have full faith in the judiciary and am fully confident that J shall be exonerated,” said Mr. Dhawan.
“Mr.S.K. Jain met me a few times when I was a minister, He had never met me before I became a minister nor did he ever meet me after I ceased to be one, None of the other Jain brothers has ever met me,” said Mr. Dhawan.
Giving details of his assets Mr. Dhawan said he had a residential house in Sector 9, Chandigarh, a flat in Gurgaon (DLF) for Rs 12,99,430 (the flat is yet to be constructed), jewelry worth Rs 12 lakhs at current prices and shares in wife’s name, worth Rs 1.7 lakhs. “My only source of income is business,” said Mr, Dhawan.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 6, 1996
