AAP demands SC-monitored probe into funding

New Delhi: Demanding a Supreme Court- monitored probe into funding of Congress, BJP and itself, the AAP on Tuesday rubbished allegations of dubious funding and dared the government to launch any inquiry against it.

Putting up a strong defence in the wake of controversy over receiving donations of Rs 2 crore from four "dubious" companies last year, a battery of AAP leaders addressed a press conference here claiming the party vetted all donations with "due diligence".

In a letter to the CJI, the AAP said it was prepared for derecognition if the probe comes out with anything incriminating and their leaders were ready to face punishment.

AAP leader and former banker Meera Sanyal said instead of addressing press conferences Finance Minister Arun Jaitley can just call up the CEOs of banks to get answers to all his queries about the four cheques of Rs 50 lakh each transferred to the AAP account.

Flanked by AAP leaders Yogendra Yadav, Ashutosh, Kumar Vishwas and Ashish khetan at a press conference here, Sanyal, a former CEO of the Royal Bank of Scotland in India, added that the banking system in India is "well-regulated" with "stringent" KYC (Know Your Customer) norms.

Dismissing the charge that AAP did not check the antecedents of the donors, she said, "Banking privacy laws prohibit people from knowing information about companies. It is just not possible to go checking everyone's address. How can we be blamed for trusting the country's banking system?."

Meanwhile, the party, in a letter, urged the Chief Justice of India to constitute a Supreme court-monitored SIT probe into the funding of BJP, Congress and its own.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal wrote to Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi and BJP President Amit Shah in this regard "with the hope" of getting a positive response.