Award for Chatwal: BJP warns government of getting 'egg on its face'

With the controversy around awarding of Padma Bhushan to hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal getting stoked further with filing of PILs against him, BJP today asked the government to rethink its decision if it wanted to avoid getting "egg on its face".
    
"Selection of Chatwal has made the whole process (of choosing Padma awardees) suspect and has lowered the dignity of the awards. It is the duty of the government to maintain this dignity as it is also a matter of prestige of the awards," BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.

He said that BJP was aware of filing of PILs in the case and also of reports that Chatwal offered to fund Barack Obama's presidential election campaign but the latter politely declined.

"If the government wants to prevent egg on its face, it should take appropriate action, lest other institutions may have to take corrective action," Rudy said. 

Some eminent journalists have also filed an RTI application to know how Chatwal figured in the list of Padma Bhushan awardees.

Reports suggest that though Chatwal's name did not figure in the initial list, his name was recommended later by the prime minister's office.
    
Chatwal was earlier indicted by the CBI in a bank fraud case involving USD 9 million and was even under arrest for a short period.