Wrongdoers will be punished, says Piyush Goyal

New Delhi, March 24

A day after Income Tax sleuths conducted raids on Hero MotoCorp chairman Pawan Munjal’s premises, the government on Thursday said no one was above the law and wrongdoers would be punished.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, replying to the debate on the ministry’s budget in the Lok Sabha, said: “You cannot steal and brazen it out.”

Responding to an Opposition MP’s suggestion that raids were dampening investment sentiment, Goyal said: “I was surprised by these remarks. I could not understand the link between raids and investment. If someone steals, he cannot brazen it out…Is there any such law that you won’t be prosecuted if you are a politician or a businessman and have committed a wrong? The one who commits a wrong will be punished,” Goyal said amid applause by the Treasury benches.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi commanded respect because of the confidence that corruption won’t go unpunished.