Narayan Murthy denies any funds to Kejriwal

Narayan Murthy in a recent statement to the media clarifies that no funds were donated to the Public Cause Research Foundation.

In a statement issued today, Narayana Murthy today clarified that no monies have ever been donated to Public Cause Research Foundation led by Mr. Arvind Kejriwal for any political party or its activities, contrary to reports in a section of the Mr Murthydia.

According to Mr. Murthy, the facts are as follows:

Arvind Kejriwal approached Mr Murthy in 2008 to donate money to raise awareness about the Right To Information (RTI) act by instituting awards to recognize the contribution of public information officers, public information commissioners, NGOs and citizens. Mr Murthy agreed to give Rs. 25 lakhs a year for five years and requested Tatas to contribute an equal sum which the Tata Social Welfare Trust was kind enough to agree.

He sent Rs. 25 lakhs for the years for 2008 and 2009 and Rs. 37 lakhs for 2010 (the additional funds of Rs. 12 lakhs were required for giving extra awards, for honoring the families of RTI activists who were murdered, and the travel costs of the honorees) and Rs. 25 lakhs for the year 2011.

However, Kejriwal wrote to him in May 2011 that the secretariat of the Foundation was busy in drafting a Jan Lokpal Bill and that they would not be able to have the awards in 2011. He also asked Mr Murthy whether it was OK to use this amount of Rs. 25 lakhs towards the secretarial expenses of the Jan Lokpal Bill effort. As one who believed that the country needed a moderate but effective Lokpal Bill, I agreed to his request.

However, when Kejriwal approached Mr Murthy in September 2012 asking for financial assistance, he declined. Hence, He have not financially supported Kejriwal's political activities.