 "Ishrat Jahan")
B K Prasad, the Union Home Ministry official who headed the probe into the “missing documents” in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case, allegedly tutored a witness on how to respond when giving his statement as part of the probe, reported The Indian Express on Thursday.
According to the national daily, Prasad told the witness the questions he would ask the latter and also gave him suggested answers.
The daily has also put out the audio recording of the official allegedly "coaching" the witness on its website.
The news report added that Prasad submitted the report today.
Who was Prasad speaking to
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Prasad, according to the report, told another official over the telephone what answers to give when he was questioned about the missing documents in the Ishrat Jahan case.
The report added that the official, who was scheduled to give his statement as part of the probe the very next day, has been identified as Ashok Kumar, joint secretary (Parliament, Hindi Division and Nodal Officer for monitoring of court cases) in the Department of Commerce.
Further, the report said that Kumar was director in the Internal Security division of the Home Ministry, which dealt with the Ishrat Jahan case, between March 1, 2011 and December 23, 2011.
What was said
Prasad, the daily said, told Kumar that he was required to ask all officers who may have dealt with the matter whether they had seen the papers in question. Prasad said, “Aapne ye paper dekha? (Have you seen that paper?)”
Subsequently, Prasad also gave Kumar the answer he wanted from the latter. According to the report, Prasad told Kumar that he should say that he had not seen "that paper". "Aapko kehna hai ki ‘Maine ye paper nahi dekha.’ Seedhi si baat hai (You have to say, ‘I have not seen that paper.’ It’s as simple as that),” said Prasad.
The report added that Prasad told Kumar that any other reply would raise doubts regarding whether the latter had played a role in the alleged disappearance of the documents.
Explaining in detail, Prasad, according to the report, said: “Aapko itna toh kehna hoga ki ya toh woh file hi maine kabhi zindagi mein deal nahi kiya, kabhi file ko dekhne ka kabhi mauka hi nahi mila (You will have to, at least, say that either you have never dealt with that file in your life, or have never had a chance to see it)... I don’t think you have seen that file at any point... that is what I want from you: ‘I have not seen that file at all’.”
Further, the report said that Prasad told Kumar that the other question the latter would be asked would be whether anybody had given him the documents to be "kept separately". Yet again, Prasad, according to the report, followed up with a suggested answer: "... Aap bologe, ‘Nahi, mere ko kisi ne nahi diya.’ (You will say, ‘No, nobody gave them to me’).”
Mother of all flukes
The recording of Prasad talking to Kumar appears to have come into the newspaper's hands by fluke.
Explaining how they came by the recording, the report said that a reporter from the newspaper had called Prasad on April 25, at around 3.45 p.m., regarding a story on why the government had denied a visa to Chinese dissident Dolkun Issa.
The report added that Prasad's remarks on the topic were recorded by the reporter.
According to the report, while speaking to The Indian Express on the unrelated story, Prasad put the reporter on hold and started another telephone conversation regarding the probe into the missing papers related to the Ishrat Jahan case. This conversation was recorded by the reporter too, added the newspaper.
Prasad rebuts
According to the report, in response to an email questionnaire sent to him, Prasad denied having had such a conversation. Prasad, according to the report, admitted to contacting various officers in connection to the probe, including Kumar. However, in his response, Prasad said that none of the officers he contacted on that date (April 25, 2016) had replied to any of the queries "as quoted by you (Indian Express), i.e., ‘I have not seen that paper’”
The report added that Kumar confirmed that Prasad had called him as part of the enquiry.
Chidambaram hits out
Former home minister P Chidambaram, who drew flak for the alleged two affidavits filed by the Centre in the Ishrat Jahan case, on Thursday said that the Indian Express report "completely exposed the fake controversy created by the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government".
"The Indian Express report completely vindicates the position that I had taken on the two affidavits. The first affidavit (August 6, 2009) disclosed the 'intelligence inputs' that had been shared by the central government with the state government," Chidambaram said in a statement.
"... The first affidavit was misinterpreted and misused to defend the encounter," he said, adding, "It was, therefore, necessary to clarify the first affidavit. Hence, a 'further affidavit' was filed (September 29, 2009) clarifying that intelligence inputs 'do not constitute conclusive proof and it is for the state government and the state police to act on such inputs'."
Chidambaram added that the contents of the second affidavit, especially paragraphs two and five, were "absolutely clear and correct".
Additionally, Chidambaram claimed that the five "missing" documents completely vindicated the position he had taken.
(Video source: IndianExpressOnline, YouTube)
(Video source: IndianExpressOnline, YouTube)
