Conflict of Interest: Help Us Spot It

When corporations pay, corporations are served. And when the public pays, the public is served. That’s unsurprising, fair and a market reality.

We think that news should be in public interest, therefore, our model where you pay to keep news free (or so we hope). We now want to attempt our first user-generated article where you help us piece information together. We will go over it, check it, carry out due diligence and create a piece for the public and, in this case, by the public.

Conflict of interest is the flavour of the day. In light of the recent Sushma Swaraj–Lalit Modi episode and now Vasundhara Raje–Lalit Modi connection, we are in the process of creating a list of politicians and bureaucrats whose personal and family connections were/are in direct conflict of interest with the position they occupied/occupy.

Like:

Abhishek Manu Singhvi

Abhishek Manu Singhvi represented and appeared for Dow Chemicals (the company that bought over Union Carbide India Limited, or UCIL) while he was an Indian National Congress party spokesperson in 2006. Congress party leading the UPA was responsible for the compensation package for Bhopal gas leak victims.

Nitin Gadkari

As Union transport minister, Nitin Gadkari, in 2014 legalised e-rickshaws. Purti Green Technologies, his brother-in-law’s company, manufactures e-rickshaws. The minister has also confirmed being part of the Purti group that manufactures e-rickshaws.

Kapil Sibal

Kapil Sibal as Union law minister reversed the ministry’s earlier standing on Vodafone over its multi-crore tax liability case in 2013. His son, Amit Sibal, who is a lawyer, had earlier (between 2007 and 2009) represented Hutchison (bought over by Vodafone).

P Chidambaram

P Chidambaram was a board member of Vedanta till 2004. After he became the Home Minister in 2010, he supported the company when the agitation broke out in Dantewada over land occupied by a Vedanta aluminium plant.

Sachin Pilot, Ashok Gehlot, Karti Chidambaram, Ravi Krishna

In 2004, Ziqitza Health Care Limited, a company that provides ambulance services, was co-founded by Ravi Krishna, the son of Congress leader and former Union Cabinet minister for Oversees Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi. Sachin Pilot, former Union Minister of State for Communications and IT, and Karti Chidambaram, son of Congress leader P Chidambram, were on the company’s board as directors till about 2009. The company was awarded the tender to run ambulances in Rajasthan when the United Progressive Alliance was in power.

Anil Khanna

Aditya Khanna, chief executive officer of the Indian arm of Rebound Ace, landed the tender to lay synthetic surfaces for the Common Wealth Games while his father, Anil Khanna was the Treasurer of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (CWG OC).

If you know of any such cases of conflict of interest, mail us at contact@newslaundry.com with “NL Collab” as the subject.

You can also inbox us on Facebook.

We will check what you send us, carry out due diligence and prepare a comprehensive report on this.

Let’s together make governance more transparent. Never do nothing.