GK Pillai dares P Chidambaram: ‘Deny you dictated Ishrat draft’

In a move that could put the former UPA government in a tight corner, former Union home secretary G.K. Pillai on Thursday “dared” former home minister P. Chidambaram to come out openly and deny he had “suo motu dictated the draft second affidavit in his own office” on the Ishrat Jahan issue. Mr Chidambaram had put the onus on Mr Pillai, saying it were the officials, including Mr Pillai, who had prepared the draft put up before him and were “equally responsible”.

Taking Mr Chidambaram head on, the former bureaucrat, in an exclusive interview to this newspaper, said he was willing to face court scrutiny or an inquiry initiated by the NDA government over the issue. In another sensational disclosure, that may bring further heat on the Congress, Mr Pillai said Mr Chidambaram not only modified the affidavit but also “browbeat” the then home ministry and Intelligence Bureau officials who tried to stand by the first affidavit filed by the MHA before “suo motu” omitting the reference of a Lashkar-e-Tayyaba link to the Ishrat case.

“Junior officers of IB and MHA were trying to tell him the first draft was all right. But he browbeat them and overruled officers when they tried to explain the first draft. He then dictated the entire second draft in his own office. Thereafter he gave it to officers to file. It is then for the first time the second draft was put up to me,” Mr Pillai said.

Mr Pillai went on to say that the “revised draft” had been prepared by the home minister without consulting him, a deviation from the normal practice.

After these fresh disclosures, Ishrat Jahan’s lawyer Vrinda Grover has suggested that Mr Pillai be made a prosecution witness in the Ishrat Jahan case. Mr Pillai had Thursday said he was ready to stand the court’s scrutiny and would respond to any summons issued to him in the matter and will “repeat himself” on the issue. “There will be many witnesses in the home ministry and IB to corroborate my statement even though I was not present when the draft was prepared,” he said.

“When the officers put up the file to me, I asked the officers from where did the revised draft come The officers told me very clearly this was the draft which the minister had dictated and directed it be filed. I had a look at it... there was nothing illegal or beyond the competence of the minister though it varied from the first draft. I then put up the file to the minister for final approval to the draft which had been dictated by him. On that, he made some small grammatical corrections which the file says ‘as amended’ and then we asked (for) the fair copy to be put up to him. The fair copy was approved by him, and then it went for filing in the high court,” Mr Pillai said.

The former home secretary also alleged that the “dirty tricks department” was out on him to give a “political colour” to his statements. “I am speaking on the issue as the then home minister is trying to hide behind me... Let the government decide if it wants to initiate an inquiry,” he said.