Narendra Modi visa letter: Process for examination of complaint begins

NEW DELHI: Process for examination of a complaint into the alleged forging of signatures of some MPs on a letter to US President Barack Obama seeking denial of visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has begun today.

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar has received a letter from Sudarshan Bhagat, BJP MP from Jharkhand, seeking an impartial inquiry into the matter as some MPs have said they have not signed the letter to Obama.

The Speaker has asked the matter to be examined so as to ensure an appropriate action, Parliament sources said, adding that if it is a matter of forgery, then provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) could also apply.

"These are serious charges and amount to forgery. I have demanded that the Speaker should order an impartial inquiry and action should be taken against those responsible," Bhagat said.

His letter to the Speaker followed in the wake of a major controversy over MPs writing to Obama seeking denial of visa to Modi with some MPs denying having signed it.

Latching on to denials by CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury, DMK MP K P Ramalingam and CPI MP M P Achutan, Bhagat had urged for a probe into alleged forgery of signatures. The BJP also accused the Congress' "dirty tricks department" of being behind it, a charge denied by the ruling party.

Yechury, whose purported signature was appended to the letter by 25 Rajya Sabha members, yesterday issued a statement denying having signed any letter to Obama. "I don't remember having signed any such letter... It suggests some cut and paste job," he said.

However, Mohammad Adeeb, Independent MP, who took the initiative for the campaign, denied Yechury's allegation.

"Yechury personally signed the letter in Rajya Sabha in front of me with his pen. I am ready to face any inquiry and any investigation into the matter," he has said.