08-05-2006, 07:06 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Natwar: Letter? Even Pathak gave Jagat one</b>
8/4/2006 11:55:52 PM
-Â Â Â Â By Seema Mustafa
New Delhi, Aug. 4: <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Justice R.S. Pathak, when he was the Chief Justice of India, had given a letter of recommendation introducing Mr Jagat Singh to his counterpart in London for admission to a British law college.</span> <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->Â <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->Â Former external affairs minister Natwar Singh disclosed this nugget of information to this newspaper to prove his point that there was nothing wrong in giving letters of recommendation.<b> "All MPs and others in positions of authority do so every single day," </b>Mr Natwar Singh said.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Congress president Sonia Gandhi also gave a letter introducing the Congress delegation to Iraq led by Mr Natwar Singh to the then Iraqi President, Mr Saddam Hussein.</span> Incidentally, it was this visit during which reports had earlier suggested that the oil-for-food deal was struck. "So does this mean that Ms Sonia Gandhi misused her position and should go to jail," Mr Natwar Singh asked. He wondered, however, how the Congress Party, which had also been named as a non-contractual beneficiary in the Volcker report, has now been given a clean chit while he has been accused of misusing his position.
The former minister was referring to the Justice R.S. Pathak Inquiry Authority report suggesting that he had misused his position in writing a letter to the then Iraqi oil minister introducing businessman Andaleeb Sehgal. "What was wrong in that," Mr Natwar Singh asked. "I will ask all the MPs in Parliament when I speak whether or not they have given hundreds of such letters?" He said he had not asked for a favour for himself, his son or the Congress Party. He had not spoken of coupons, oil or anything specific as it was just a general letter of recommendation, like the one given by Justice Pathak for his son Jagat Singh, or by Mrs Sonia Gandhi introducing the party delegation.
The letter, according to Mr Jagat Singh, merely stated, "I am sending a young man, Andaleeb Sehgal. I will be very grateful if you could help him do business in Iraq," or words to that effect. Mr Jagat Singh, who is also feeling as "vindicated" as his father after the Pathak report details were "leaked" to a section of the press, said that all letters at that time were addressed to the Iraqi oil minister, who was in charge of the oil-for-food programme and thereby controlled the sale of "shoes, clothes, everything" to Iraq at the time.
Mr Natwar Singh said the fact that he and his son had not received any money was the "crux of the report, the rest is all baloney". He said it was a political report and not a judicial report, and Justice Pathak had harmed his own reputation in the process. He said he has asked repeatedly for the letters to be put out publicly so that "everyone can see what I actually wrote at the time. I write hundreds of such letters, as all politicians do, and I do not know how I am supposed to have misused my position as I was not a minister then, and moreover did not ask anything for myself, my son or even the party."
He stressed that there was no question of misusing his position as "I was not a minister, or a MP, then, and my son was not a MLA." Visibly angry about the "leak", Mr Natwar Singh said, "I will be going all out now to find out who is responsible for all this, who has been putting pressure on Justice Pathak." He said he has received a great deal of support and is now determined to "expose" those who have played a part in the conspiracy against him. <b>He said the government's decision to "leak" the report was inexcusable and pointed a finger at a lawyer attached to the Pathak inquiry authority who had been placed there by a "senior minister" and had a relative in a "television news channel".</b>
Mr Jagat Singh insisted that the Mercedes-Benz seized by the authorities did not belong to him. "It is not my car," he said, adding, "I have never owned a Mercedes. I do not know which poor soul's Mercedes they have taken. I can challenge the Enforcement Directorate on this. Give me the registration number and we will find out whose car it is. If it is traced to me, take me to jail."
Mr Natwar Singh also wanted to know how Mr Aneil Matherani had been exonerated as it was "because of him that I lost my job". He said that Mr Matherani should be asked to produce all the documents he had spoken of, and give evidence supporting his claims. He reiterated his earlier claim that the Volcker report did not have any validity, that the names of the American companies had been removed from it, that it had been proved wrong as, contrary to allegations contained in it, he had not been found to have taken any money, and that India was the only country to have taken the Volcker report seriously.
http://asianage.com/main.asp?layout=2&cat1...&RF=DefaultMain<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Judge, Queen Sonia and Natwar whole wagon of crooks in same train.
8/4/2006 11:55:52 PM
-Â Â Â Â By Seema Mustafa
New Delhi, Aug. 4: <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Justice R.S. Pathak, when he was the Chief Justice of India, had given a letter of recommendation introducing Mr Jagat Singh to his counterpart in London for admission to a British law college.</span> <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->Â <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->Â Former external affairs minister Natwar Singh disclosed this nugget of information to this newspaper to prove his point that there was nothing wrong in giving letters of recommendation.<b> "All MPs and others in positions of authority do so every single day," </b>Mr Natwar Singh said.<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Congress president Sonia Gandhi also gave a letter introducing the Congress delegation to Iraq led by Mr Natwar Singh to the then Iraqi President, Mr Saddam Hussein.</span> Incidentally, it was this visit during which reports had earlier suggested that the oil-for-food deal was struck. "So does this mean that Ms Sonia Gandhi misused her position and should go to jail," Mr Natwar Singh asked. He wondered, however, how the Congress Party, which had also been named as a non-contractual beneficiary in the Volcker report, has now been given a clean chit while he has been accused of misusing his position.
The former minister was referring to the Justice R.S. Pathak Inquiry Authority report suggesting that he had misused his position in writing a letter to the then Iraqi oil minister introducing businessman Andaleeb Sehgal. "What was wrong in that," Mr Natwar Singh asked. "I will ask all the MPs in Parliament when I speak whether or not they have given hundreds of such letters?" He said he had not asked for a favour for himself, his son or the Congress Party. He had not spoken of coupons, oil or anything specific as it was just a general letter of recommendation, like the one given by Justice Pathak for his son Jagat Singh, or by Mrs Sonia Gandhi introducing the party delegation.
The letter, according to Mr Jagat Singh, merely stated, "I am sending a young man, Andaleeb Sehgal. I will be very grateful if you could help him do business in Iraq," or words to that effect. Mr Jagat Singh, who is also feeling as "vindicated" as his father after the Pathak report details were "leaked" to a section of the press, said that all letters at that time were addressed to the Iraqi oil minister, who was in charge of the oil-for-food programme and thereby controlled the sale of "shoes, clothes, everything" to Iraq at the time.
Mr Natwar Singh said the fact that he and his son had not received any money was the "crux of the report, the rest is all baloney". He said it was a political report and not a judicial report, and Justice Pathak had harmed his own reputation in the process. He said he has asked repeatedly for the letters to be put out publicly so that "everyone can see what I actually wrote at the time. I write hundreds of such letters, as all politicians do, and I do not know how I am supposed to have misused my position as I was not a minister then, and moreover did not ask anything for myself, my son or even the party."
He stressed that there was no question of misusing his position as "I was not a minister, or a MP, then, and my son was not a MLA." Visibly angry about the "leak", Mr Natwar Singh said, "I will be going all out now to find out who is responsible for all this, who has been putting pressure on Justice Pathak." He said he has received a great deal of support and is now determined to "expose" those who have played a part in the conspiracy against him. <b>He said the government's decision to "leak" the report was inexcusable and pointed a finger at a lawyer attached to the Pathak inquiry authority who had been placed there by a "senior minister" and had a relative in a "television news channel".</b>
Mr Jagat Singh insisted that the Mercedes-Benz seized by the authorities did not belong to him. "It is not my car," he said, adding, "I have never owned a Mercedes. I do not know which poor soul's Mercedes they have taken. I can challenge the Enforcement Directorate on this. Give me the registration number and we will find out whose car it is. If it is traced to me, take me to jail."
Mr Natwar Singh also wanted to know how Mr Aneil Matherani had been exonerated as it was "because of him that I lost my job". He said that Mr Matherani should be asked to produce all the documents he had spoken of, and give evidence supporting his claims. He reiterated his earlier claim that the Volcker report did not have any validity, that the names of the American companies had been removed from it, that it had been proved wrong as, contrary to allegations contained in it, he had not been found to have taken any money, and that India was the only country to have taken the Volcker report seriously.
http://asianage.com/main.asp?layout=2&cat1...&RF=DefaultMain<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Judge, Queen Sonia and Natwar whole wagon of crooks in same train.