Bisheshwar Mishra / AMN  /

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has denied irregularities in the construction of Firozshah Kotla cricket stadium during his tenure as chairman of DDCA. Intervening in a Zero Hour mention in the Lok Sabha, Mr Jaitley charges leveled by the opposition are baseless.

The Minister said, Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has already scrutinized the expenditure of 114 crore rupees incurred on the construction of the stadium and found no financial irregularities. Mr Jaitley said the stadium with a capacity of 42 thousand spectators was constructed with 114 crore rupees only but during the UPA tenure Dhyan Chand and Jawahar Lal Nehru stadiums were renovated at much higher costs.

Congress member K Venugopal demanded constitution of Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the alleged irregularities. He also demanded Minister’s resignation in the case. Kirti Azad of the BJP said instead of demanding JPC, the Congress should seek time bound probe in the case. Later, the Congress staged a walk out from the Lok Sabha.