Notice for adjournment on Volcker rejected

    New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee today rejected the adjournment motion notice moved by Opposition members, including BJP deputy leader in the House VK Malhotra, George Fernandes, SS Dhindsa, Anant Geete, and Yerrann Naidu, regarding the alleged involvement of the Congress party and its leaders for compromising the interests of the country for monetary gains as revealed by Mitrokhin archives, the Volcker Report, and Moynihan's book, saying that "the notice does not refer to one specific issue and also does not appear to be any direct responsibility of the Central Government in the matter". In the notice, the Opposition members also called for an investigation by the CBI into these Volcker, Mitrokhin and Moynihan revelations. The Speaker also said that the matter pertaining to Volcker Committee Report was already under investigation by Committee headed by retired chief justice RS Pathak. Resuming the House after adjourning it for an hour, Chatterjee said rule 58 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the the lower House of Parliament clearly laid down the conditions of admissibility of a notice for an adjournment motion and provided that the notice should be restricted to "a specific matter of recent occurrence" involving the responsibility of the Union Government. Further, he said, "no motion which seeks to raise discussion on a matter pending before any statutory tribunal or statutory authority performing any judicial or quasi-judicial functions, be permitted to be moved".

     Lok Sabha adjourns till 12 over Volcker impasse Pandemonium and sloganeering reigned supreme in the Lok Sabha on the third day of the Winter Session of Parliament, with the treasury and opposition exchanging verbal charges and counter-charges over the need for the government to come clean on the controversial Volcker Report relating to the 2001 Iraq Oil for Food scam. Friday morning was a virtual repeat of Thursday's proceedings, with the Opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) repeatedly demanding the resignations of former External Affairs Minister K.Natwar Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi over their alleged involvement as non-contractual beneficiaries of the Iraq Oil for Food deal promoted by the United Nations in the immediate aftermath of the first Gulf War between the U.S.-led Allied Forces and Saddam Hussein's Iraqi Army. The constant shouting forced an agitated and hapless Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to adjourn Lok Sabha proceedings till 12 p.m. As usual, Parliament opened at 11 am, and almost immediately, members of the opposition benches stood up and accused the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of being thieves, and accumalating wealth beyond permissible limits. They shouted slogans like "Gali, Gali Mein Shor Hai, Congress Party Chor Hai" (Everybody is shouting in the streets that the Congress Party is a thief). The Treasury benches, especially the Congress countered with an equally vociferous shout of "Kuch to Sharam Karo, Parliament Ko Chalne Do" (Have some shame, Let Parliament run). This verbal mayhem continued for about 20-minutes into the session before Speaker Chatterjee stepped in to warn that the Lok Sabha is being held to ransom. "The country and the Parliament's image is being spoilt. I appeal to all sections of the House to behave properly and to discuss issues as per the rules." Shortly before ordering the adjournment of the proceedings, Chatterjee said: "I am not going to surrender before you. I will come back at 12."

    The Volcker Report prepared by former U.S.Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volker has named both Natwar Singh and the Congress party as beneficiaries of the Iraq Oil for Food deal, a charge vehemently denied by both. The Report also says that at least 129 Indian companies benefitted from the deal. The Manmohan Singh Government, which currently on the backfoot because of this issue, has appointed Special Envoy Virendra Dayal and former Supreme Court Justice R.S.Pathak to scrutinise the Volcker report in detail before arriving at any firm conclusions on who was or was not involved in the deal. On Thursday, Dayal confirmed that he had received all incrimminating Volcker documents pertaining to India, and added that the probe would not be completed before March 2006. Simultaneously, Prime Minister Singh has said that his Government is ready for a full and final debate on the Volcker Report in Parliament. He has also removed Natwar Singh as the country's Foreign Minister and made him a Minister of the Union Cabinet without portfolio.