Government today said that law will take its own course if investigations establish that there has been any violation by global retail giant Walmart in its attempts to gain entry into the Indian market.
It also said that it was not proper to make any judgement one way or the either before probe is completed.
“If at all any investigation does conclusively establish that there has been a violation of the Indian laws....Law will take its own course,” information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari told Karan Thapar’s Devil’s Advocate on CNN-IBN.
He was responding to a question on the enforcement directorate probing alleged violation of investment rules by Walmart in India and charges that Walmart invested in India even before the government took a policy decision on FDI in retail.
Tewari at the same time repeatedly cautioned against “innuendos and insinuations” till an inquiry is completed. He said government has already announced a probe by a former judge into the allegations of Walmart spending money on lobbying to get entry into Indian market and that now “the inquiry commission should be allowed to come to its independentconclusion.
“I do not think it is proper to second guess the results of an inquiry. Let the inquiry play itself out. We would not put the cart before the horse,” he said.
Tewari also hit out at the BJP over the issue alleging that the principal Opposition has “reversed criminal jurisprudence on its head”.
“They make an allegation, then they reiterate it and they start believing it and then they ultimately expect the country to convict a person without a trial,” Tewari said, adding “if all this process exonerates Walmart completely, who is going to compensate individuals, associations or companies for the damages done as a result”.
The Union minister also exuded optimism that it will be able to pass the crucial bills on banking, pension and insurance reforms passed in the Parliament despite the existing political contradictions as “the real faultline in this country is communalism versus pluralism”.