No place in Modi govt for independent voices: Congress on revocation of IIPS director's suspension after he resigns

Jairam Ramesh. File Pic

The Modi government has no place for independent and professional voices, the Congress alleged on Monday as it hit out at the Centre over the reported revocation of suspension of IIPS Director K S James after he tendered his resignation, reported news agency PTI.

The remark by Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh came over a media report which claimed that the Union government has revoked the suspension order of James and accepted his resignation from the post of the Indian Institute of Population Sciences (IIPS) director, reported PTI.

In a post on 'X', Jairam Ramesh said, "Earlier this year, I had expressed disgust at the way this fine scholar was being treated by the Modi government the only fault of his was the data collected by an independent institution under his leadership was inconvenient to the Modi government."

"The Modi government first suspended him on July 28 on the flimsiest of charges. Then Dr. James himself resigned on August 7th. Now, the revocation of his suspension three months after is a face-saving charade by the government, although it is welcome that his honour is preserved," the Congress general secretary said.

"But his premature and forced resignation is a "big blow" to the world of demographic scholarship," Ramesh said.

The Modi government has no place for independent and professional voices, he added.

"All it wants is drum-beaters. Eventually, the credibility of our institutions and governance suffers," Ramesh said.

Earlier, the Congress on Saturday termed as an "eyewash" and "sham" the reported probe by the corporate affairs ministry into the accounts of Adani Enterprises' two airports in Mumbai and reiterated its demand for a JPC probe into the Adani issue.

The opposition party has been questioning the financial dealings of billionaire Gautam Adani's Group after US research firm Hindenburg alleged "irregularities" and charged it with stock price manipulation.

The Adani Group has denied all the allegations made in the Hindenburg report and claimed there had been no wrongdoing on its part.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh cited a media report which quoted Adani Enterprises as saying that the corporate affairs ministry was investigating the accounts of the group's two airports in the country's financial capital of Mumbai.

"As Adani group's skeletons tumble out of the closet on a daily basis, the government is desperately trying to save face by switching to a PR mode to show that it is taking action against PM Modi's favourite business group," Ramesh said in a post on X.

When will the government investigate how the Adani group was awarded six out of six airports over the objections of the NITI Aayog and the Department of Economic Affairs, he asked.

"When will it probe how the ED and CBI raided the previous owners of Mumbai airport when they were unwilling to sell to the Adani group, and how the case went into deep freeze after the PM's best friend took control of India's second busiest airport?" Ramesh said.

"This sham investigation will end up where previous Modi-era probes into the Adani group have gone nowhere!" he said.

Such eyewash fools no one, Ramesh said, adding that only a Joint Parliamentary Committee can reveal the truth behind the "Modani Mega Scam".

(With inputs from PTI)