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| Natwar, Jagat guilty; Congress clean: Pathak Panel | | |
New Delhi, Aug 03: The Justice Pathak Inquiry Authority today indicted former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh and his MLA son Jagat Singh for procurement of contracts in the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq during Saddam Hussain`s regime but no no money has been traced to them.
The copy of the 110-page report, including 22 pages of annexures, was handed over today to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by Justice R S Pathak, who headed the one-man inquiry authority.
Congress exonerated of charges
The authority is believed to have exonerated the Congress of all charges of being a non-contractual beneficiary in the scam in 2001.
Andaleeb Sehgal, a friend of Jagat Singh, and Aditya Khanna, a relative of Natwar Singh, are understood to have received financial payoffs in the deal by getting oil coupons based on the letters of recommendation given by Natwar Singh.
Natwar misued position
The Authority has found that Natwar and his son had misused their position in helping Sehgal and Khanna bag three oil contracts from the UN sanctioned Saddam regime. Sehgal and Khanna, in turn, passed the contracts on to Swiss oil company Masefield AG which drew the oil and paid them a commission, the report says.
Commission of USD 1,46,000 received
On a cut of five cents a barrel, Sehgal and Khanna received a total commission of USD 1,46,000, which they divided between themselves in a ratio of 4:1, according to the Authority`s report.
Former Indian Ambassador to Croatia and Congress leader Aniel Matherani, who was part of a four-member delegation led by Natwar to Baghdad in January, 2001, was also exonerated of any wrong doing.
When the Oil-for-Food scam came to light in November last year, Natwar Singh, had to first quit as External Affairs Minister and then from the Union Cabinet within a month on December 6.
In between after a political uproar the government appointed the inquiry authority headed by Justice R S Pathak, former Chief Justice of India, to probe the whole affair and at the same time it asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to investigate the financial dealings of the Indian entities.
Natwar Singh, who was summoned by the authority, as were Sehgal and others, had always maintained that he had not done anything wrong in the whole affair and the inquiry would prove his innocence.
He had also accused the Enforcement Directorate of indulging in a witch-hunt and harassing his son and others. He had hinted at some higher-ups in the congress party of going after him and had complained to the Prime Minister.
Natwar Singh declined to comment on reports that he has been indicted by the Justice Pathak Committee.
"I will not comment on it till I have read the report," he told mediapersons. |
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