<span style="color: #222222;">The government has said, Rajiv Mehrishi, who joined the Finance Ministry as Economic Affairs Secretary, never dealt with expenditure proposals from the Defence Ministry. The clarification comes in the backdrop of the Congress alleging that Mr Mehrishi, who is the incumbent Comptroller and Audit General, should recuse himself from the audit report of Rafale deal as he was the Finance Secretary during the negotiation for the aircraft. In a release, the Finance Ministry termed the allegations as total figment of imagination and stretch of facts. The release said, Mr Mehrishi was designated as the Finance Secretary on 11th November, 2014 and continued as Economic Affairs Secretary and Finance Secretary till 31 August 2015 when he demitted office.</span><br />