Nitin Gadkari row: Anybody found guilty should be punished by law, says RSS

CHENNAI: Seeking to distance itself from the controversy over business dealings of BJP President Nitin Gadkari, RSS today said the law should take its own course and it does not have a soft corner for anybody.

"And those who are found guilty should be punished according to the law", RSS Joint General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabele told reporters on the Gadkari issue after the inauguration of the RSS National Executive Council meet at Kelambakkam on the city outskirts.

Referring to the statement of RSS General Secretary Suresh Joshi a few days ago that any individual or organisation indulging in any illegal activity must be subjected to impartial probe and all those found guilty be punished, he said, "The same stand continues".

The three-day meet, being attended by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and 400 delegates from the country, will deliberate on various issues like illegal immigration from Bangladesh and the proposed Land Acquisition Bill.

Taking exception to the media singling out Gadkari on the issue of alleged land acquisition, he said, "There may be 100 others also (involved in such issue).

"We are not going to discuss it case wise or person wise. We are going to discuss it as a policy of land acquisition. Whoever comes within that will have to stand before the law. That is why we are not giving any soft corner to anybody. We go by policy and have been stressing on that", Hosabele said.

He said "(for RSS) whether the issue of land acquisition or corruption or any other issue, there is no different yardstick. RSS is with the country's interest, nation's interest. Public morality is supreme for us and accordingly we express that."