The senior adviser raised questions on the advertisement which sought imposition of sanctions against the Finance Minister, Enforcement Directorate chief and Supreme Court judges in the Dewas case.
The senior adviser raised questions on the advertisement which sought imposition of sanctions against the Finance Minister, Enforcement Directorate chief and Supreme Court judges in the Dewas case.
The government on Saturday reacted strongly to an advertisement in the American newspaper Wall Street Journal by an American group seeking sanctions against Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Supreme Court judges and the Enforcement Directorate and other officials in the Dewas-Antrix case. Said “attack”. Indian Sovereignty”.
The October 13 ad in the newspaper appears to be around the time of Ms Sitharaman’s visit to Washington in an attempt to draw attention to the matter on behalf of Devas’ co-founder, US citizen Ramachandra Viswanathan. Mr. Viswanathan, who along with “Frontiers of Freedom”, a Washington-based NGO, urged the US State Department to impose a “Magnitsky Act” ban on eleven designated Indian government officials, which he called an “unfair”. The trial and the government took steps to declare him a criminal and confiscate his assets, which he said “deprive” him of his “freedom and security”. In Delhi, a senior government adviser called it a “shockingly despicable” ad that targeted India and its government.
“This is not a campaign [the] Modi government alone. It’s a campaign against [the] Judiciary This is a campaign against India’s sovereignty,” Kanchan Gupta, senior adviser to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, said in a set of tweets, where she called on the Wall Street Journal to allow “shameful weapons of US media by fraudsters”. criticized. Mr Gupta said the advertisement was put out on behalf of Mr Vishwanathan, who is a “proclaimed fugitive economic offender” accused of corruption.
While the original case involved a dispute between Bangalore-based Dewas Multimedia and Antrix Corp, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation, over a deal to operate the satellites that were canceled in 2005, the latest dispute involved Devas co-founders Viswanathan and K. related to tasks. Recently the government’s retaliation against Dewas. In August this year, the Delhi High Court quashed a $1.3 billion (including interest) arbitration decision in favor of Dewas Multimedia, which was passed by the International Chamber of Commerce in 2015. The government sought Mr Viswanathan’s arrest on corruption charges, froze Dewas accounts in Mauritius through the use of Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) and requested an Interpol Red Corner Notice to extradite him from the US.
However, in August also, Devas Multimedia seized $87,457.47 in cash from Antrix Corporation’s account in the US and a property in Paris after favorable orders in US, French and Canadian courts based on the ICC award.
Ms Sitharaman, Justices V. Ramasubramaniam and Hemant Gupta, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, ED Director Sanjay Kumar Mishra and Assistant Director R Rajesh were accused in the ad put out by a US right-wing NGO founded by a Republican senator. And other officials abuse state powers to “settle scores with political and business rivals.” Calling the designated officials “Modi’s Magnitsky 11”, Frontiers of Freedom chairman George Landrith, also a Republican Party member, said
“actions of [officials named and the Modi government] Send a clear message to potential investors in India: India is a dangerous place to invest,” Mr Landrith tweeted on Thursday.
The Global Magnitsky Act of 2016 authorizes the US government to sanction foreign government officials worldwide that it determines are ‘human rights violators’, freeze their assets, revoke visas and prevent them from entering the US. restrict.
Speaking at a public event in Delhi as well as at television channels, Mr Gupta called on the US government to look into the advertisement. He also questioned the fact that the financial paper ran advertisements questioning India’s investment climate, while IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva, who met Ms Sitharaman, referred to India as a “bright spot” on the global horizon. did.