After his explosive statement that the Congress’s Amritsar Lok Sabhacandidate Captain Amarinder Singh had failed to declare the foreign bank accounts of his wife and son before the Election Commission, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy fired another salvo at the party’s Chandni Chowk candidate Kapil Sibal, accusing him of will-fully suppressing information about companies owned and administered by his wife, Promilaa Sibal.

The suppression of his wife’s abattoir and thriving meat export business has possibly been done to avoid public attention to this aspect of their wealth in a largely vegetarian nation, particularly after the BJP’s Prime Ministerial contender Narendra Modi began to publicly attack mutton subsidies given by the UPA and the subsequent denudation of animal wealth in the villages.

In a meeting with Election Commissioner HS Brahma at the Nirvachan Sadan on Saturday, Subramanian Swamy claimed that while filing his nomination papers, Kapil Sibal deliberately failed to disclose in his affidavit of assets and liabilities, three companies which are owned and administered by his wife. These include Arshiya Exports Private Ltd; Arihant Farmhouses Private Ltd; and Hacker Electronics Private Ltd. The firms figure in the details of spouses’ assets that the Minister furnished to the Prime Minister’s Office!

One of the impugned companies, Arshiya Exports Pvt Ltd, is one of the biggest meat exporters in Asia. Originally called Arihant Export Pvt Ltd, the firm’smeat processing plant is approved by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India.

As ‘Arihant’ is one of the most sacred terms in Jainism – the Tirthankaras are also known as Arihants – the Jain community agitated against the firm some years ago, particularly after hearing rumours that the firm may also be exporting beef. This prompted the change in name to Arshiya Exports Pvt Ltd. However, the Arihant name has been retained for the second firm, the business of which is not known.

Subramaniam Swamy has charged that as these companies comprise substantial assets, failure to disclose them is a serious perjury under thecriminal law. He urged the Election Commission to forward his complaint with its recommendations to the Magistrate for cognisance and issue due process. In support of his claims, the BJP leader furnished records from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs which show Promilaa Sibal as a director in the three firms from March 1981, February 1987 and May 1987 respectively.

In his affidavit to the Election Commission, Kapil Sibal has furnished details of his PAN number and that of his wife, along with income shown in the last financial year 2012-13. Giving details of bank accounts, mutual funds, shares, fixed deposits, gold and jewellery, he has declared a gross total value of these assets to be Rupees 1,03,89,794.22/- for himself and Rupees 1,34,90,422.56/- for his spouse.

In terms of immovable assets, Kapil Sibal has declared two agricultural properties, two non-agricultural properties, five commercial properties and seven residential properties in various parts of the country. The net worth of the couple is approximately Rupees 110 crore. Neither spouse has anyliabilities. Kapil Sibal has furnished detailed annexures of all his holdings and savings and current bank accounts, all of which would have required the services of a professional chartered accountant. Even if one assumes that he merely copied the disclosures previously submitted to the Prime MinisterManmohan Singh, it is difficult to believe that the omission of his wife’s commercial interests is accidental.