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| - Fact Check: Did Arun Jaitley use navy chopper to ferry his family in Goa?
Many Facebook users have accused Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for misusing a navy helicopter for personal use. India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found this to be a misleading claim.
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India Today Fact Check
This is a photograph of Jaitley in Srinagar in 2017. Jaitley refuted the allegation back in 2014.
A few days ago during his election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sparked a controversy by accusing former PM Rajiv Gandhi of using navy warship INS Viraat as his "personal taxi" for family vacation. Many Facebook users have now accused Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for misusing a navy helicopter for personal use.
Facebook user Samuel George posted a picture of Jaitley along with army officers and a chopper in the background. The caption reads: "Arun Jaitley as Defence Minister used an Indian Navy chopper to ferry his family to a wedding in Goa.": Look the family behindall on official duty? #Hypocrite."
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found this to be a misleading claim. This viral photograph of Jaitley was taken in May 2017 during his visit to Jammu and Kashmir to review the security situation and to attend the GST council meeting as he was holding both defence and finance portfolios.
In December 2014 when the allegation first came against Jaitley using a navy chopper for a family function, he was not even holding the portfolio of defence ministry.
Nearly 1,700 users have shared this post of Samuel George on Facebook.
Several users have also posted this same photo on Twitter but with a slightly different claim. One Ashok Swain has tweeted, "Arun Jaitley had taken his wife in an Airforce chopper for 'Kashmir Darshan' too!..."
Look behind! pic.twitter.com/OYrjqxAkWM Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) May 10, 2019
Another user Mohan Guruswamy, on the other hand, did not post any picture but tweeted: "Arun Jaitley as Defence Minister used an India Navy chopper to ferry his family to a wedding near Bombay."
Using reverse image search on the viral image, we found this photograph used in an article published by India Today on May 17, 2017. The photo courtesy was given to ANI.
This same photograph along with several others was also published in the photo gallery on Aajtak website on May 19, 2017.
This same picture was also tweeted by the Indian Army on May 17, 2017.
Jaitley visited Kashmir in May 2017 to review the security situation and to attend the GST council meeting. Jaitley and Army Chief Bipin Rawat's Kashmir visit came in the wake of the beheading of two Indian security personnel by Pakistani military in Poonch district.
India Today's defence correspondent Manjit Negi who covered this event in Srinagar on May 17, 2017 confirmed the origin of this photograph. He also confirmed that Jaitley's wife was accompanying him on this tour. She is visible in the viral photo behind the minister near the chopper.
But what is the truth behind the viral claim of Jaitley using the navy chopper to ferry his family for a wedding in Goa as a defence minister?
In 2014, Goa-based social activist and lawyer Aires Rodrigues urged PM Modi to order an inquiry into alleged misuse of a naval helicopter in Goa on December 23 by Jaitley's family. This was reported by The Hindu.
Jaitley had refuted the allegation on his Facebook post and called it "fake news".
India Today published a news report and confirmed that the social activist could not substantiate his allegations against Jaitley with documents.
We found that as per news reports, Jaitley was in charge of the defence ministry between May 26 and November 9 in 2014. He was not a defence minister in December 2014 when this allegation was made against him. He took the additional charge of defence again in 2017 after Manohar Parrikar stepped down from the position to go back as Goa chief minister.
Hence, the viral claim against Jaitley along with the photograph is misleading.
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You can also send us an email at factcheck@intoday.com
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