Subba claims he is supreme

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New Delhi: For at least 16 years, Congress MP Moni Kumar Subba has brazenly snubbed allegations that he is not an Indian.

CNN-IBN’s Special Investigation Team has letters from the Union Home Ministry, which show that the Government itself has suspicions about Subba’s nationality.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed three reports on Subba’s nationality, but has found no “conclusive evidence”.

"In absence of any evidence regarding the birthplace or year of birth of MK Subba, no final view could be taken about his nationality," the CBI has told the Supreme Court, which on January 19 asked the MP to prove his citizenship.

CBI gives up

Subba was first elected as an MLA in June 1991 and is now an MP. How could he do this when under the Representation of People’s Act, he is yet to prove that he is an Indian? Subba himself says that he does not have to prove his nationality.

“Dimaag hai? Aadmi hai? Ek MP ke upar mein nagrikta par shak karega. Dimaag hai ki nahi? Aap kya nagrik hai? Aap to mamuli nagrik, hum log to supreme hain. Maine Bharat ka samvidhaan mein, Assam mein do baar MLA raha. MP aur uska baad mein aap log nagrikta ka baat karta hai. Kahan se aa gaya? Dimaag hai? Kaise aa gaya?” (Do you have brains? You doubt the citizenship of an MP? Are you a citizen yourself? You're a common citizen, but we are supreme. I have been an MLA from Assam twice and then an MP, and you are talking of citizenship. Where have you come from? Do you have brains?).” This is how Subba reacted when he was asked to comment on the allegations about his nationality.

Such arrogance may not impress the Supreme Court as Subba simply has no document to prove that he is an Indian by birth.

A criminal called Moni Raj Limbo

Documents sourced from Nepal present a serious case: that Subba is actually Moni Raj Limbo, who escaped from the Illam prison in Nepal after being convicted for the murder his sister.

An Interpol report confirms that Limbo, alias Moni Kumar Subba, son of late Dhan Bahadur Subba, was a resident of Ward No. 8, Sangsabu, Taplejung, Nepal. These documents are with the Supreme Court.

Subba’s friend and long-time business partner Bal Chand Sarda claims Limbo and Subba are the “same thing”.

CNN-IBN: Moni Raj Limbo and Moni Kumar Subba?

Sarda: It's the same thing.

CNN-IBN: How do you say that?

Sarda: That he has to prove. He has a property in Kathmandu; he has a building in Kathmandu.

CNN-IBN: How do you know about that?

Sarda: He showed me a photograph and said he purchased it (property) when we were in Harmoti.

Karma Kanu, Subba's third wife, who was quoted by the CBI, says she visited Subba's home in Sangsabu, Nepal.

As per Nepali laws, an Indian cannot own a property there. So if Subba is an Indian, how does he have property in Nepal?

The CBI asked Nepalese officials to provide it with Limbo’s fingerprints so that it could match them with Subba's. But the Central investigation agency received no response.

Sarda revealed why things are stuck.

CNN-IBN: So how come you did not tell the truth to CBI?

Sarda: The DSP (Deputy Superintendent of Police) is a friend of Moni Kumar's. He told me this DSP is coming to you.

CNN-IBN: So that means the CBI enquiry was manipulated?

Sarda: It is manipulated. And if the court does not give a good verdict this time, people will laugh at the court.

Moni Raj Limbo, the escaped Nepali convict, had a father named Dhan Bahadur Subba and a brother called Sanjay Raj Subba.

Moni Kumar Subba's father and brother have the same names too. But is Moni Raj Limbo actually Moni Kumar Subba? That’s for the CBI to find out.

(With Sudesh Bhatt in Gangtok)