New Delhi: Sunair Hotels Ltd, which is mired in a row after the media reported that Home Minister P Chidambaram had helped closing a criminal case against it, today suggested it had made representations to government before he took over and the decision was taken after "due deliberations".
In a statement issued here, the company said it had been made a "scapegoat in the entire political episode" but did not elaborate. "We wish to clarify that the company has been repeatedly writing since 2005 that cases are false and civil in nature.
This has been wrongly stated that the request for closure was made since Mr Chidambaram took over as Home Minister in 2008," it said.
The case relates to a dispute between Sunair Hotels and a finance company which had filed a criminal case against the hotel. "The company had written to the Home Secretary (UT) for the first time in 2005 and to the Home Secretary in 2006 for closure of FIR and written to the then Home Minister Mr Shivraj Patil in 2006," the statement said.
It insisted that the issue is civil in nature, which "can be gauged from the fact that in 2001, the Chief Prosecutor of the government has opined that that matter is civil financial in nature and no case is made out."
Sunair Hotels said "the decision was taken by the government after due deliberation and a committee completely looked into all aspects, then only the decision was taken and media reports are completely one-sided."
PTI