With opposition parties training their guns on the Indian Premier League (IPL), the government today told Lok Sabha that the investigation into the sources and routes of funding for the Twenty20 tournament had already begun and “no guilty or wrong-doer” would be spared.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, in response to opposition demands earlier in the day, made a statement in the House assuring members that “appropriate action as per law” would be taken if any wrongdoing was found in the manner the IPL was funded.
“The concerned department has already started investigation process (into the IPL episode). All aspects including sources of funding and routes through which the funds arrived would be looked into. Appropriate action as per law would be taken. No guilty or wrong-doer will be spared,” Mukherjee said.
As Lalu Prasad (RJD) and Mulayam Singh Yadav (SP) continued to raise the issue, Mukherjee said, “We will look into all aspects.”
People are indeed tired of hearing such courageous and thunderous pronouncements whereas, in reality, nothing really happens ultimately to the known criminals, murderers, black marketeers, corrupt bureaucrats and govt. servants at all levels/ranks, money-launderers, black-money makers, fund-raisers for criminal/political activities (synonymous) through murder-threats/murders/intimidation/kidnappings/fudging of account books/IT Refund rackets (mainly by ITPs and other professionals), fixers of top govt. appointments/corrupt ministers and bureaucrats making money through open practices like transfer-postings of officers and staff in respective deptts like Police/Income Tax/Customs/Central Excise/Air-Sea Customs/Sales Tax/Road Construction (Ref. murder of engineers refusing to clear bogus bills of contractors), scamsters (Ref. Fodder/Bitumen, etc., in Bihar-Jharkhan, Sugar Co-ops in Maharashtra, Airport expansion/relocation contracts, FCI godown Audit, and thousands of such mysteries where cases are framed, launched/initiated and thereafter buried with govts changing/bureaucrats changing. A live example is that of a President of a quasi-legal/judicial body under Law Ministry dealing with direct taxes, in connection with the search, apprehension and going underground of a CA in an Eastern metro city! There are many indeed-a whole anthology of such cases can be profitably compiled and published!
So, who is afraid of the FM’s warning?