In the course of its continued offensive against the Narendra Modi government over former Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi visa controversy, the Congress has raised a valid question.
The Congress has asked that when the Delhi High Court restored Lalit Modi's passport, why the government did not challenge the order. This came even as the Ministry of External Affairs and the Enforcement Directorate continued to engage in blame game.
The Lalit Modi passport controversy has not just sent the government ducking for cover, but has also triggered a blame game between the External Affairs and the Finance ministries.
The ministries are trading charges over who should file an appeal in Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court judgment that restored the former IPL commissioner's passport.
According to experts, the onus in the case is on the foreign ministry to file the appeal because the MEA is the passport issuing authority and it is the final authority that can cancel it.
After the court judgment, a law officer in-charge of the case sends copies of the judgment to concerned ministries with his comments. The law officer is expected to give his opinion on whether the judgment is to be challenged or not.
If the MEA then agrees that the judgment is to be challenged, an appeal is filed, and according to rules, it is expected to be filed within 90 days of the judgement.
However, in this case, there is already an unexplained delay of over 200 days by the foreign ministry, and sources now say that this has happened because someone in the ministry has been sitting on the file for last 10 months.
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