11-06-2005, 10:24 PM
Pioneer
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Govt tests water before probe </b>
Navin Upadhyay / New Delhi
Raids and interrogates Sehgal------ Facing mounting criticism for its inaction on the damning disclosures of the Volcker committee's report, Government agencies on Sunday launched an investigation into the role of Andaleeb Sehgal, a close friend of Jagat Singh, son of External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh.
However, <b>the timing of the crackdown when a formal probe has not been announced has raised eyebrows. A senior official indicated that the Government wanted to first find out the nature of evidences and their political implications before arriving at the nature of probe and its terms of reference.</b> <!--emo&:guitar--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/guitar.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='guitar.gif' /><!--endemo-->
With all indication pointing out that a probe will be ordered within the next 24 hours, the undue haste with which Sehgal was quizzed and raided on Sunday has acquired added significance.
The mandate given to the probe commission will be crucial because the Congress party and Mr Natwar Singh are named in Volcker's report. If the probe agency was asked to look into the role of Mr Natwar Singh it would become untenable for him to continue as the EAM considering that the investigation will require a great deal of assistance from the External Affairs Ministry.
In a scandal where accusing fingers are even now being pointed at Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Sehgal is a soft target. While he was interrogated by the officers of the Enforcement Directorate for eight hours on Sunday and the ED and income tax raided the offices of his firm the Hamdaan Export, Sehgal's political masters were kept out of the purview of the crackdown.
According to the Volcker's report, Sehgal and his firm Hamdaan Exports deposited $748,540 (Rs 3.22 crore) into the Jordan National Bank as "illegal surcharge" that finally reached the Saddam regime. These payments were made on behalf of Masefield against oil rights allotted to Natwar Singh and the Congress party, the report said.
In nailing Sehgal and letting Natwar Singh and his son Jagat Singh go scot-free, the Government has ignored the telltale revelation that Jagat Singh visited Jordan twice in 2001. Both visits followed illegal surcharge deposited by Sehgal in the Jordan National Bank.
These payments were made on behalf of Masefield, the Swiss firm that lifted 1.9 million barrels of Iraqi oil of the 4 million barrels to which rights were obtained by Natwar Singh as per the Volcker report. The ED is understood to have questioned Sehgal about the company's business interests in Iraq during Saddam Hussein's regime and whether it had clearances under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) in view of the report saying that it was a non-contractual beneficiary in the payoffs from the Oil-for-food programme, sources said.
<b>Even as Sehgal's interrogation was on, ED and Income Tax department carried out joint raids on the offices of Hamdaan Exports in various parts in Delhi. The raids were conducted at two places in Defence Colony and one in Panchseel Park in South Delhi besides Sehgal's residence in the capital</b>.
Breaking his silence, Sehgal claimed that he was out of town when the ED officials "broke" into his business office and residence in Defence Colony and also residences of his father at Jorbagh and Panchsheel Enclave "without any notice to me or any warrants being produced".
The officials, he claimed, went through not only his records but also records of his parents and searched their personal cupboards. "They have turned our residences upside down which is sheer harassment."
He said that he had informed the ED in writing that he had no hesitation in joining and will furnish all information and documents required from him.
He admitted that he had made some trips to Iraq during 2001 but said all these where to explore the possibility of export food stuffs on behalf of Hamdan Exports and other associated firms. "None of these trips were either arranged by the Congress party nor were they at the instance of any member of the Congress party including Natwar Singh or Jagat Singh," he added in his defence.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Govt tests water before probe </b>
Navin Upadhyay / New Delhi
Raids and interrogates Sehgal------ Facing mounting criticism for its inaction on the damning disclosures of the Volcker committee's report, Government agencies on Sunday launched an investigation into the role of Andaleeb Sehgal, a close friend of Jagat Singh, son of External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh.
However, <b>the timing of the crackdown when a formal probe has not been announced has raised eyebrows. A senior official indicated that the Government wanted to first find out the nature of evidences and their political implications before arriving at the nature of probe and its terms of reference.</b> <!--emo&:guitar--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/guitar.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='guitar.gif' /><!--endemo-->
With all indication pointing out that a probe will be ordered within the next 24 hours, the undue haste with which Sehgal was quizzed and raided on Sunday has acquired added significance.
The mandate given to the probe commission will be crucial because the Congress party and Mr Natwar Singh are named in Volcker's report. If the probe agency was asked to look into the role of Mr Natwar Singh it would become untenable for him to continue as the EAM considering that the investigation will require a great deal of assistance from the External Affairs Ministry.
In a scandal where accusing fingers are even now being pointed at Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Sehgal is a soft target. While he was interrogated by the officers of the Enforcement Directorate for eight hours on Sunday and the ED and income tax raided the offices of his firm the Hamdaan Export, Sehgal's political masters were kept out of the purview of the crackdown.
According to the Volcker's report, Sehgal and his firm Hamdaan Exports deposited $748,540 (Rs 3.22 crore) into the Jordan National Bank as "illegal surcharge" that finally reached the Saddam regime. These payments were made on behalf of Masefield against oil rights allotted to Natwar Singh and the Congress party, the report said.
In nailing Sehgal and letting Natwar Singh and his son Jagat Singh go scot-free, the Government has ignored the telltale revelation that Jagat Singh visited Jordan twice in 2001. Both visits followed illegal surcharge deposited by Sehgal in the Jordan National Bank.
These payments were made on behalf of Masefield, the Swiss firm that lifted 1.9 million barrels of Iraqi oil of the 4 million barrels to which rights were obtained by Natwar Singh as per the Volcker report. The ED is understood to have questioned Sehgal about the company's business interests in Iraq during Saddam Hussein's regime and whether it had clearances under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) in view of the report saying that it was a non-contractual beneficiary in the payoffs from the Oil-for-food programme, sources said.
<b>Even as Sehgal's interrogation was on, ED and Income Tax department carried out joint raids on the offices of Hamdaan Exports in various parts in Delhi. The raids were conducted at two places in Defence Colony and one in Panchseel Park in South Delhi besides Sehgal's residence in the capital</b>.
Breaking his silence, Sehgal claimed that he was out of town when the ED officials "broke" into his business office and residence in Defence Colony and also residences of his father at Jorbagh and Panchsheel Enclave "without any notice to me or any warrants being produced".
The officials, he claimed, went through not only his records but also records of his parents and searched their personal cupboards. "They have turned our residences upside down which is sheer harassment."
He said that he had informed the ED in writing that he had no hesitation in joining and will furnish all information and documents required from him.
He admitted that he had made some trips to Iraq during 2001 but said all these where to explore the possibility of export food stuffs on behalf of Hamdan Exports and other associated firms. "None of these trips were either arranged by the Congress party nor were they at the instance of any member of the Congress party including Natwar Singh or Jagat Singh," he added in his defence.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->