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Centre to probe Pathak report leakage

      New Delhi: Soon after Finance Minister P. Chidambram ruled out PMO's involvement in leaking the contents of the Pathak inquiry commission report to media, the Government announced that a probe would be ordered into the leakage of the report. Parliamentary Affairs Minister PR Dasmunshi told reporters: ''The leakage issue will be dealt with very firmly by the Government, we will let you know very soon the manner and time frame of the probe to be conducted by a investigating agency". He also said that Action Taken Report on the Pathak Committee report would also be tabled soon in the Parliament, but did not specify the exact time-frame. Dasmunshi only said that it would be sooner "than the earlier ATRs placed in Parliament.'' Earlier, Chidambram ruled out the leakage from the government's side saying: "I can say with utmost confidence that there has been no leak from the government side. The only copy or the copies are at present with the Prime Minister that the PMO was not involved in the leakage". All the copies of the report was received by the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday night and was expected to be tabled in the current Monsoon Session of the Parliament after the Cabinet took a decision on it.

     Meanwhile, Justice RS Pathak categorically denied leaking the contents of his report on the Oil-for-Food scam and said that at no point his office was involved in it. The Parliament witnessed an uproarious scene earlier in the day after Left parties along with the Opposition BJP demanded an enquiry on how the media got the report which had been exclusively submitted to the Prime Minister. BJP members demanded a CBI enquiry into it and even called for bringing in a privilege motion against Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee too said that the report should first have been tabled in Parliament as it was in session. Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court paved the way for tabling the report in the Parliament after it rejected a petition filed by the prime accused in the Oil-for-food scam Andaleeb Sehgal that called for prohibiting the report for publication. A three-Judge bench comprising Justices SL Bhayana, TS Thakur and Vikramjit Sen did not oblige Sehgal's request for a stay on tabling the report.

Charges against Natwar not proved: Yechury

     New Delhi: CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury on Friday said that the allegations against former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh could not be proved in the Justice RS Pathak Inquiry Authority's report, hence there are no charges. "The allegation against him (Natwar Singh) was that he got money and is involved in the corruption in the deal. Since those allegations could not be proved, according to law there are no charges against him," Yechury said. Speaking to newspersons on the sidelines of a hunger-strike by Anganwadi workers here, he said, "As far as our knowledge goes, there is no clarity on whether Natwar Singh has got money or committed any sort of corruption in the deal". The Pathak inquiry committee probing the former minister's involvement in the Iraq Oil-for-Food scam since December 2005 found Natwar Singh, and his son Jagat, an MLA from Rajasthan, as having misused their positions in the Congress party to get the contracts. The Congress party, however, was exonerated. According to Volcker Committee's findings he and Congress were non-contractual beneficiaries in the UN oil-for-food programme during Saddam Hussain regime.

    The controversy over Oil-for-food payoff erupted in October last year, when a former UN diplomat Paul Volcker wrote in his report that politicians in several countries, including Natwar Singh, were given oil vouchers that could be sold for a commission to help the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in his attempts to get international sanctions lifted. Following this, Natwar resigned from the ministry on November 7. Later, the Union Cabinet appointed retired Supreme Court Justice R S Pathak and asked him to inquire into the matter. The Congress-led government has been battling furious protests by the Opposition since the Volcker Report was made public. Natwar, who was the first political casualty of the explosive report, has termed the allegations as "outrageous". 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 UN report said that some 2,200 companies made illicit payments totalling 1.8 billion dollars to

Jagat: Plan to remove dad from Congress

     New Delhi: Congress leader Natwar Singh's son Jagat on Friday said that the disclosure of the Pathak inquiry report on the oil-for-food scam in the media appeared to be aimed at finishing his father, Natwar Singh's association with the Congress party. Natwar Singh on the other hand said that there were no plans to quit as yet. Speaking to CNN-IBN, a private television news channel, Jagat said: "We haven't received money; we stand vindicated," adding "The report has not found any money trail to us. As no money has been taken, no charge should be levelled against us". While Jagat continued with the 'conspiracy' theory of removing his father from Congress in the television studio; his father Natwar Singh told reporters that his association with Congress is inseparable. "The only strength I had was the Congress party. So, how can the Congress party and I be divorced", said Natwar. However, his statement committing his loyalty to the party is being taken taken at face value as political circles are abuzz with rumours that Singh may join the Samajwadi Party, which is headed by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. On being asked whether he would consider joining the Samajwadi Party, Singh maintained a stoic silence. "How can any aspersion are cast on me and the Congress be given a clean chit," the former external affairs minister said. Jagat also said that the enforcement directorate's allegation that a black Mercedes car seized by them, belonged him, was false, and suggested that both his father and he were being nailed by the ED at the behest of Finance Minister P. Chidambram. Chidambaram has rejected the allegation, saying that he has never interfered with the ED's working.

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