Bid to tarnish our image: Kapil Sibal, Indira Jaising and Dushyant Dave

NEW DELHI: Senior lawyers Kapil Sibal, Indira Jaisingh and Dushyant Dave have refuted allegations of receiving money from controversial organisation Popular Front of India (PFI) in relation to anti-CAA protests. All three threatened legal action against unsubstantiated allegations.

Jaising and Dave said attempts are being made to bespoil their reputation and threatened to initiate legal action against persons and media platforms for tarnishing their image. Sibal, a Congress MP, said he received Rs 77 lakh as litigation fee from PFI for appearing in the Supreme Court between August, 2017 to March, 2018 in the Hadiya case, where allegations of forced conversion were levelled.

“ED has released a statement analysing PFI's bank accounts in which my name has been mentioned as a recipient for funding anti-CAA agitations," said Sibal. He said CAA became law only in December, 2019. "In all matters in which I have appeared in the Supreme Court challenging constitutionality of the CAA, I have not raised, till date, any invoice," he said.

Responding to the allegation that she received Rs 4 lakh from PFI in relation to the protests, Jaising said, “I completely and vehemently deny having received any money from PFI at any point of time, or receiving any money from any person or organisation in relation to anti-CAA protests.”

“The note showing details of transactions from the PFI account alleged to be made to me does not contain any signature or date, nor does it contain the name of agency where it had originated, and therefore is wholly unreliable. Any motive attributed to scandalise my reputation will follow serious civil as well as criminal legal action against such persons and media platforms,” she said in a statement.

Questioning the motive behind raising the issue now, Dave said the matter has been in public domain since 2018 that PFI collected money from people to bear cost for the legal battle of Hadiya, the 25-year-old woman whose marriage after conversion to Islam was restored by Supreme Court. Dave had appeared for her in SC.

“It is very unfortunate that the issue is being raised now when the PFI had itself in 2018 made a statement that it had spent a total of Rs 99,52,324 on fighting Hadiya case. I appeared in the case thrice and one bill was raised for the appearance on October 9, 2017 for which we received the fee on October 30,” he said.

Sibal said, “For my appearances in Hadiya case, I raised invoices and received payments thereon, through cheques from August 4, 2017 till March 8, 2018 from the PFI's Syndicate Bank account in Kerala's Kozhikode.”

"I was paid for professional services rendered and for nothing else. Any insinuations made to besmirch my name and defame me will be taken seriously," he said.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra questioned Sibal over money he received from PFI. “Kapil Sibal says that money received from PFI was for the Hadia case. But wasn’t the Hadia case a case between a husband and wife and how did PFI get involved?” questioned Patra.

He said Sibal says that he doesn’t check the source of money received. “Is this statement even real, coming from a lawyer?”