A full-page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, key figures in the judiciary and top officials of investigating agencies has led to uproar. The ad alleges that those named “decimated the rule of law by weaponising the institutions of the state to settle scores with political and business rivals, making India unsafe for investors.”
Campaigning against investing in India, the ad says: “We have asked the US government to impose economic and visa sanctions against them under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.”
Those named in the ad include Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Antrix Corp Chairman Rakesh Sasibhushan, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, Supreme Court judges Hemant Gupta and V Ramasubramanian, Special PC Act Judge Chandra Shekhar, CBI DSP Ashish Pareek, Enforcement Directorate’s Sanjay Kumar Mishra, ED Assistant Director R Rajesh, Additional Solicitor General N Venkataraman, and ED Deputy Director A Sadiq Mohamed.
While the date of its publication was not immediately clear, government sources said the advertisement campaign was allegedly run by Ramachandran Viswanathan, former CEO of Devas, the subject of a money laundering investigation.
“Shameful weaponisation of American media by fraudsters. This shockingly vile ad targeting #India and its Government appeared in @WSJ. Do you know who is behind this and similar ads? This ad campaign is being run by fugitive Ramachandra Vishwanathan, who was the CEO of Devas,” Kanchan Gupta, senior advisor, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, wrote on Twitter.
Shameful weaponisation of American media by fraudsters.This shockingly vile ad targeting #India and its Government appeared in @WSJ .Do you know who is behind this and similar ads?This ad campaign is being run by fugitive Ramachandra Vishwanathan, who was the CEO of Devas.n1 pic.twitter.com/o7EWFmMsSR— Kanchan Gupta ???????? (@KanchanGupta) October 15, 2022
“Vishwanathan is a declared fugitive economic offender in #India. India’s Supreme Court has ruled that his firm Devas was involved in corruption. This is not a campaign against Modi Govt alone. It’s a campaign against Judiciary. It’s a campaign against India’s sovereignty,” he added.
The Enforcement Directorate had moved a Bengaluru court in June this year to declare Viswanathan a “fugitive economic offender” in connection with the failed 2005 satellite deal with Antrix Corp. The agency had filed the money laundering case in 2015 to probe the alleged Rs 578 crore “wrongful” gain to private multi-media company Devas by Antrix, the commercial arm of ISRO.
The CBI had also registered an FIR against Executive Director of Antrix, KR Sridhara Murthi, MG Chandrasekhar and Vishwanathan of Forge Advisors, Devas Multimedia Private Ltd and unnamed officials of Antrix, ISRO and Department of Space.
The CBI had alleged that the accused persons had entered into a criminal conspiracy and the government officials abused their position by favouring Devas by giving it rights for delivery of videos, multi-media and information services to mobile phones using S-Band through GSAT-6 and GSAT-6A satellites and terrestrial systems in India.
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