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Pathak says he will seek the truth on Volcker

     New Delhi: Former Supreme Court Chief Justice RS Pathak said on Monday that it would be his endeavour to get to the root of the allegations levelled against the Congress Party and External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh by the UN appointed Volcker Inquiry Committee. Stating that his investigations would be unbiased, Justice Pathak, who has also been a judge at the International Court of Justice, The Hague, said he would be interacting with former U.N.Under Secretary-General, Ambassador Virendra Dayal, who has been appointed as the Government's pointsman for collecting and collating all information on the controversy that has hogged newspaper headlines in India for the past four days. "We shall see how it goes, what is necessary and I presume that the documentation which is being procured by Mr.Virender Dayal will be before me. In addition, if I find that I need more material on any particular aspect or the present material produced is not sufficient, then I shall take steps to get that material. And if necessary to take the assistance of people who are either being said to be involved in this entire scam and other people necessary. I should certainly try to get them to help me. It doesn't matter, it is a totally independent inquiry and all material pertinent to the reference will be looked into by me.

    There is no question of anything being held back," Pathak told reporters after being named to head the enquiry. Both Foreign Minister Natwar Singh and the Congress, which heads the coalition government, have denied any wrongdoing and Singh has termed the Volcker findings as "outrageous". On Sunday, New Delhi had appointed Dayal, to liaise with the world body on "unverified references" made in the Volcker's report. Dayal has been mandated to get the relevant material regarding the involvement of Indian entities and individuals within a period of three months. Pathak said his first job would be to go through the entire documentation and then begin the probe. The Congress-led government had been under pressure to order a probe after the report by the U.N.-established Independent Inquiry Committee said politicians in several nations were given oil vouchers that could be sold for a commission to help the former Iraqi dictator in his attempts to get sanctions lifted. Meanwhile, a delegation of Indias main opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) that has been demanding Singhs dismissal over the report, called on President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. The delegation led by L.K.Advani, BJP president, heads the NDA, said they have sought Kalams intervention in the entire episode. "We have sought the dismissal of foreign minister and we believe as the government is also not ready for it. So the President should intervene into the entire thing," Advani told reporters after their meeting. NDA has launched a nationwide campaign against the Congress party and Natwar Singh. According to television reports, the NDA has also written a separate letter to the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan demanding a copy of the Volcker report. The 74-year-old foreign minister,who led India's campaign for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, has been targeted by the BJP over the Volcker report. It said he must quit.

    Meanwhile, Ambika Soni, spokesperson of the Congress party, said they were taking steps to save their partys image. "The government has taken some important steps. The party has also said that it will make all necessary moves to clear its name. Now, try combining these two. On behalf of the government's efforts, whatever information is gathered could be useful. We have a mission of keeping up the name and prestige of the Congress party," Soni told reporters in New Delhi. Media reports have said some of Natwar Singh's ministerial colleagues had also asked him to resign, but the veteran diplomat has said he saw no reason to quit. The oil-for-food programme, which began in 1996 and ended in 2003, aimed to ease the impact on ordinary Iraqis of U.N. sanctions, imposed when Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait in 1990. Under the scheme, Iraq was allowed to sell oil to buy food, medicine and many other goods. The U.N. report said that some 2,200 companies, including 119 Indian fiirms, made illicit payments totalling 1.8 billion dollars to Saddam's government under the programme.

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