File photo of former union minister Sharad Pawar
A day after Lalit Modi named him among UPA ministers who had helped him with travel documents, senior politician Sharad Pawar has given his first detailed response.
Mr Pawar said he ran into Mr Modi a few weeks ago at a London restaurant, and told him then to come back to India and face the law.
"I bumped into Lalit Modi while having lunch at a London restaurant three-four weeks ago. I told him he should come back to India and face the law. He told me he feared if he returned, his passport would be impounded again," Mr Pawar, 74, told NDTV.
"Lalit told me there was a risk to his life based on a Mumbai police report. In the past I checked with the Mumbai police; there seemed to be substance to the fears," he said, confirming for the first time Mr Modi's claims of a threat to his life.
Lalit Modi, in an interview on the raging controversy over Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj helping him get travel papers in Britain, had said that three ministers of the previous Congress-led government had also helped him in the past.
Mr Modi said Mr Pawar and another leader of his Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Praful Patel, had also told him that he would be arrested the moment he arrived in India, that he should not return.
Questioning those assertions, Mr Pawar said he never made any commitment to Lalit Modi. "I told him if he returns I can promise him fair, due process. I offered to talk to the government to ensure fairness if he returned and faced the law," he said.
Emails leaked to the British media list Sharad Pawar as one of the recipients of a thank you mail from Lalit Modi after he received permission to travel last year while his passport was being held by Indian authorities.
Mr Pawar said he was not aware of any such mail. "I don't even read my email," he said.
Mr Pawar and Lalit Modi worked closely as part of India's cricket board.