Clear the air on Lalit Modi issue, AAP asks Sushma Swaraj

New Delhi: The AAP on Monday demanded that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj clear the air on the assistance provided to former IPL chief Lalit Modi in securing documents to travel to Portugal in July last year for the treatment of his cancer-stricken wife.

"We are not demanding her resignation, but she should clear the air on the matter in public," Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kumar Vishwas said.

He also said that such a decision could not have been taken without consulting the Prime Minister's Office and "if not, she should clarify this point as well".

The controversy was triggered after Britain's Sunday Times reported an email exchange between influential Labour MP Keith Vaz and head of UK Visas and Immigration Sarah Rapson, citing Sushma Swaraj, to facilitate travel documents for Lalit Modi, a former head of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Sushma Swaraj on Sunday said she helped Modi, who has been staying in London since 2010 following allegations of financial impropriety, on "humanitarian grounds".