india

Updated: Apr 09, 2019 23:28 IST

The government on Tuesday rejected claims that an Indian Air Force aircraft was used to fly in currency notes from abroad as part of what the Congress alleged was a scam around the November 2016 decision to demonetize high currency notes.

The defence ministry denial came hours after the Congress played out videos at its briefing on Tuesday that it said, was proof of a scam. In one of these videos, a person is heard claiming that duplicate currency notes of the face value of Rs 3 lakh crore were printed abroad and brought in an Indian Air Force plane at the Hindon Air Base.

A defence ministry spokesperson rejected the claims made in the video. “It is categorically refuted that any Indian Air Force aircraft was tasked to fly abroad for carrying currency prior to, during or after demonetization as alleged in a video released today,” he said..

Kapil Sibal had alleged that a team of government officials drawn from different departments were engaged in the exchange of old notes for new post demonetisation. According to news agency PTI, Sibal did not authenticate the videos shown at the conference and said these are in public domain and the agencies concerned should initiate a probe.

“Demonetisation is the biggest scam in the history of India. Current notes (issued after the old Rs 500/100 notes were demonetised in November 2016) were printed abroad and transported into India and there can be nothing more anti-national than this,” Sibal told reporters, according to PTI.

The Congress’s allegation had also drawn a sharp reaction from senior BJP leaders. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad called the allegations false and threatened “legal action”.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Sibal has exposed the “stench of corruption” in the government. Referring to the Income-Tax Department action against Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s aides, the Congress leader said the alacrity with which the Enforcement Directorate and I-T have acted, they should also act fast and arrest the people in the video and tell the country what has happened.