MP govt appointed Sushma Swaraj's husband, daughter as advocates, reveals RTI query

Bhopal: In what could cause fresh trouble for External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, an RTI query has revealed that Madhya Pradesh government appointed her husband and daughter as government advocates. [caption id=“attachment_2305974” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.[/caption] However, the state BJP has denied any wrongdoing and said the appointments were done on the basis of merits even as Congress hit out at Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for allegedly “obliging the BJP Central leadership“. Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj has been embroiled in a row for facilitating travel documents for tainted former IPL boss Lalit Modi in London, prompting opposition Congress to demand her resignation. The response to an RTI query, filed recently by activist Ajay Dubey, revealed that the State government had appointed Swaraj’s husband Swaraj Kaushal and daughter Bansuri Kaushal as government lawyers in 2009 and 2013, respectively. Dubey alleged that the Chief Minister “favoured” Swaraj with appointments as he wants to consolidate his position in the BJP. Reacting to the findings, MP Congress unit’s chief spokesman KK Mishra said Chouhan was not missing an opportunity to oblige Central ministers. “By make Bansuri and Kaushal State government advocates, he (Chouhan) has politically obliged Swaraj. Chouhan was obliging the BJP Central leadership to save his chair in the wake of his involvement in MP Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) scam,” Mishra alleged. He further alleged that the government has paid lakhs of rupees to Bansuri and Kaushal from government coffers as legal fees and demanded cancellation of their appointment. Meanwhile, the state BJP unit said the government has not indulged in any wrongdoing, illegal act or impropriety in appointing Kaushal and Bansuri as government lawyers. MP BJP media in-charge Hitesh Bajpai said the appointments were done on the basis of merits. “Kaushal was a senior lawyer. Many States hire Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari, KTS Tulsi of Congress to present them in Supreme Court,” he contended. PTI