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Adjournment motion on Volcker rejected New Delhi: The Government on Monday rejected the adjournment motion on the Volcker Report controversy which was forwarded by the Opposition saying it would go to the root of the matter and those found guilty would not be spared. Assuring that the report of Inquiry Authority would be tabled in Parliament along with the Action Taken Report, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the findings in the Volcker Report were "unverified and unsubstantiated" and there was "no need, no occasion and no justification" for the motion. The motion was rejected by voice vote. However, the Samajwadi Party, which is providing outside support to the United Progressive Alliance Government, along with Telagu Desam Party walked out of the proceedings expressing dissatisfaction over Government's response to the motion. Pointing that no Government in the past had acted as quickly and had procured 100 pages of documents within 17 days, Chidambaram said: "I cannot think of any other honourable way to react to Volcker references which were unverified references... facts not verified and unsubstantiated". Earlier this month, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and Paul Volcker have assured the Indian Government of their full cooperation in the investigations of the Volcker Report. The Government appointed Special Envoy for probing the alleged involvement former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh and the Congress party in the Iraq oil-for-food scam as reported by the Volcker Committee, Virendra Dayal, received the assurances when he met them separately on November 18 and 21. The Volcker Committee in its report has named Natwar Singh and the Congress party as non-contractual beneficiaries of the Iraq oil-for-food scam. The panel had named 129 Indian companies for paying illegal surcharges to Saddam Hussein government to get contracts for supply of humanitarian goods. Govt refuses to table Volcker papers in Parliament The government on Monday rejected the demand by the opposition to table the controversial Volcker report in Parliament. The winter session of Parliament was stalled last week for two consecutive days following disruptions by opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) lawmakers who were demanding the resignation of former Foreign Minister Natwar Singh named as a beneficiary in an Iraqi oil-for- food programme. Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that the rule did not permit the documents of the matter to be tabled on the floor of Parliament. Only the investigating authority could examine it. "Because of this rule 188, it has been provided that a matter which is under the consideration or examination of investigation of a commission of enquiry, need not be discussed but as there is a provision and under that proviso you have permitted it we have accepted it.But simply it is not possible because no body in the administration has any authority to examine it, except the investigating officers who are assisting. Their job is to assist the enquiry authority which has been set up under Justice Pathak," he said. However, leader of opposition Lal Krishna Advani did not agree with Mukherjee and said that the matter does not fall under the purview of CBI (federal investigative agency Central Bureau of Investigation) or Directorate of Enforcement. "I feel that if the government and the party, as the party President has said are keen to find the truth, there should be no hesitation in giving these papers to the Parliament. I would like him to reconsider it. This is not a matter of investigation by the CBI (federal investigative agency Central Bureau of Investigation) or by the Directorate of Enforcement." Former US Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker had, in a report, said that many politicians, including the ruling Congress party and Natwar Singh, were "non-contractual beneficiaries" of the 64 billion dollar oil-for-food programme for Iraq. While the report did not ascribe any motives for the allocations, witnesses in other similar transactions said politicians had been rewarded for backing the Iraqi government or an end to U.N. sanctions. Congress-led government has been battling furious protests by opposition parties, which accuse it of harboring corrupt politicians. The government was forced to order the probe and remove Natwar Singh as the foreign minister, though the leader has been retained in the cabinet without portfolio. But the opposition, led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have termed the investigation an eyewash saying the leader's continuance, as a federal minister, will cloud the proceedings. Both Natwar Singh and the Congress were named in the report. Singh, who has been the first political casualty of the explosive report, has termed the allegations as "outrageous". A former U.N. official from India, Virendra Dayal, has also been roped in as a special envoy of the government of India to liaise with the UN and its member states to gather relevant materials regarding the involvement of Indian entities and individuals. The oil-for-food program, 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 made illicit payments totaling 1.8 billion dollars to Saddam's government under the program. Did George face humiliation in Lok Sabha Time for the adjournment motion tabled by the Opposition in the Lok Sabha ahead of the debate on the Volcker Commission report was fixed at two-and-half-hours. But, when NDA convener George Fernandes rose to speak, his turn alone consumed at least 45 minutes amid uproar, due to repeated interruptions by the Treasury benches. And, frequent fumbling by George contributed to the wasted time. True to his style and his known criticism of the Nehru-Gandhi family, George targeted Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi saying that "two names had appeared in the Volcker Commission" report, who had received kickbacks in the oil-for- food scam. He said the two names were that of ex-foreign minister K Natwar Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. This charge was greeted by a Congress uproar in the Lower House on several occasions. On one occasion, George tried to establish the Italian link to the Volcker Commission report. This also triggered a strong response from the Congress MPs, who sensed that the former defence minister was hinting at Sonia, who hails from Italy. Subsequently, when Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee directed George to restrict himself to the text of the adjournment motion, George said, "you have given a ruling whereby you rejected our demand for the papers related to the Volcker Commission report which were collected by special envoy Virender Dayal. Then, what can we say without having access to those documents." At this, the Speaker told him, "in a way, you are challenging the Speaker's ruling, this is not fine." Then, on another occasion, when Geroge did not relent from taking Sonia's name in relation to the Volcker Commission report, the Speaker was heard as saying amid pandemonium: "I think the member is not in a mood to speak on the subject." During the 45-minute drama in the Lower House, on several occasions, George was seen at loss of words, and giggling at the Treasury benches. But, in the end, a journalist sitting in the press gallery summed up the entire episode by saying "It may have brought humiliation to George, but he successfully made his point i.e. dragging Sonia's name in the Volcker Commission report". Plea for Volcker debate Debate on the issue was stalled by the NDA-led Opposition on Thursday, which continued to demand the resignation of Former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi over their alleged involvement as non-contractual beneficiaries in the 2001 scam. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had urged Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to direct the Government to place before Parliament all papers obtained from the United Nations and Volcker Committee regarding the Iraq's Oil-for-Food Programme. A letter to this effect was written by BJP President L K Advani on Sunday, stating that the tabling of the papers obtained by India's Special Envoy Virender Dayal, the head of the Probe Committee appointed by the Government, would enable Parliament to have a purposeful debate. "The opposition would not stall the proceedings in both houses of Parliament. And we want the government to place the Volcker documents on the table of the house, " said V K Malhotra, BJP Deputy Leader. The Winter session of Parliament so far has seen both the treasury and the opposition benches trading verbal charges and counter charges, shouting slogans like "Gali, Gali Mein Shor Hai, Congress Party Chor Hai" as against Congress who countered with an equally vociferous shout of "Kuch to Sharam Karo, Parliament Ko Chalne Do". Simultaneously, Prime Minister Manmohan 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. Both the government and the opposition had on Friday informally agreed to have a discussion on an adjournment motion on the Volcker report to be moved by the NDA members today.
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