11-13-2005, 05:21 AM
http://www.dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?m...t&counter_img=1<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> <b>Panel diluted to spare Sonia</b>
Yogesh Vajpeyi / New Delhi
Stepping up its offensive on Volcker Committee revelations, the BJP on Saturday challenged the Congress to reveal names of all those who had accompanied former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh to Iraq when he allegedly handed over Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's letter to President Saddam Hussein.  Â
The demand came in the wake of former Union Minister Shiv Shankar's assertion that Hamdan Exports' promoter Andy Sehgal had accompanied the Congress team to Baghdad in 2001. According to the Volcker report, Sehgal's company had deposited $748,540 in the Jordan National Bank as surcharge for two contracts in which the Congress party and Natwar Singh were shown as 'non-contractual beneficiaries.
Mr Shiv Shankar was a member of the Congress delegation to Iraq led by Mr Natwar Singh. He told a section of the media on Friday that Sehgal had tagged along with the delegation as a friend of Mr Singh's son Jagat.
"The Congress must reveal who went to Iraq in that delegation authorised or unauthorised," BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley said.
Sources indicated that the BJP intends to put the Congress on the mat on this score because it has been informed that a known oil dealer had also accompanied the Congress delegation in addition to Jagat and Sehgal.
While the party expects more incriminating evidence against Congress and Mr Singh in the Iraqi oil scam to surface, it remains sceptical about the chances of the UPA Government appointed RS Pathak Inquiry Authority to unravel the truth.
Mr Jaitley pointed out that while it had been vested with most of the powers under the Commissions of Inquiry Act through two gazette notifications on Friday, the power to issue notices to parties likely to be adversely affected by the inquiry under Section 8 of the Act had been withheld from it.
"This has been done deliberately to save public embarrassment to Ms Gandhi. Had the Pathak Authority been given powers under Section 8, it would have issued notice to her and Mr Natwar Singh and they would have been subject to cross examination". Mr Jaitley said the Government had knowingly adopted a crippled approach to the probe. "The Authority has no legal powers to issue a letter of request to international agencies/courts through the courts in India to collect evidence, both documentary and oral, outside the territory of India," he said.
Mr Jaitley pointed out that the first two terms of reference of the Authority wanted it to inquire into sources of the Volcker Committee's revelations and determine whether it was justified in making its references to the Congress and Mr Singh.
"It appears that the Government wants Mr Pathak to act as a appellate Authority over the Volcker Committee," he remarked.
As for the third term of reference relating to an investigation into when, where and how the alleged pay-offs were made, the Pathak Authority is unlikely breach the hurdle of confidentiality of transactions maintained by most international banks, he maintained.
"This could have been done only after a criminal case was registered and the CBI asked to investigate it," he added.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yogesh Vajpeyi / New Delhi
Stepping up its offensive on Volcker Committee revelations, the BJP on Saturday challenged the Congress to reveal names of all those who had accompanied former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh to Iraq when he allegedly handed over Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's letter to President Saddam Hussein.  Â
The demand came in the wake of former Union Minister Shiv Shankar's assertion that Hamdan Exports' promoter Andy Sehgal had accompanied the Congress team to Baghdad in 2001. According to the Volcker report, Sehgal's company had deposited $748,540 in the Jordan National Bank as surcharge for two contracts in which the Congress party and Natwar Singh were shown as 'non-contractual beneficiaries.
Mr Shiv Shankar was a member of the Congress delegation to Iraq led by Mr Natwar Singh. He told a section of the media on Friday that Sehgal had tagged along with the delegation as a friend of Mr Singh's son Jagat.
"The Congress must reveal who went to Iraq in that delegation authorised or unauthorised," BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley said.
Sources indicated that the BJP intends to put the Congress on the mat on this score because it has been informed that a known oil dealer had also accompanied the Congress delegation in addition to Jagat and Sehgal.
While the party expects more incriminating evidence against Congress and Mr Singh in the Iraqi oil scam to surface, it remains sceptical about the chances of the UPA Government appointed RS Pathak Inquiry Authority to unravel the truth.
Mr Jaitley pointed out that while it had been vested with most of the powers under the Commissions of Inquiry Act through two gazette notifications on Friday, the power to issue notices to parties likely to be adversely affected by the inquiry under Section 8 of the Act had been withheld from it.
"This has been done deliberately to save public embarrassment to Ms Gandhi. Had the Pathak Authority been given powers under Section 8, it would have issued notice to her and Mr Natwar Singh and they would have been subject to cross examination". Mr Jaitley said the Government had knowingly adopted a crippled approach to the probe. "The Authority has no legal powers to issue a letter of request to international agencies/courts through the courts in India to collect evidence, both documentary and oral, outside the territory of India," he said.
Mr Jaitley pointed out that the first two terms of reference of the Authority wanted it to inquire into sources of the Volcker Committee's revelations and determine whether it was justified in making its references to the Congress and Mr Singh.
"It appears that the Government wants Mr Pathak to act as a appellate Authority over the Volcker Committee," he remarked.
As for the third term of reference relating to an investigation into when, where and how the alleged pay-offs were made, the Pathak Authority is unlikely breach the hurdle of confidentiality of transactions maintained by most international banks, he maintained.
"This could have been done only after a criminal case was registered and the CBI asked to investigate it," he added.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->