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Shiv Sena attacks Sinha over UTI muddle

Ruling National Democratic Alliance ally Shiv Sena on Monday attacked Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha for the UTI muddle and dragged prime minister's office into the development even as the entire Opposition in the Rajya Sabha asked Sinha to resign for the mutual fund's fiasco.

Participating in the resumed short duration discussion on UTI, Shiv Sena member Sanjay Nirupam said three telephone calls were made by former UTI chairman P S Subramanyam from Bombay to Delhi from July 17 to July 21, two of which, he said were traced to the PMO.

Without naming anybody, he said one of the calls were made to a person in the PMO who is now in the Planning Commission.

He also alleged that the finance secretary had telephoned the sacked UTI chairman just an hour before presentation of this year's Budget to Parliament on February 28.

Even as BJP members vociferously objected to Nirupam's observation, the Shiv Sena member wanted that the House be informed about these telephone conversation after which private placements were made by UTI in Cyberspace technologies despite the mutual fund's research wing's opposition to buying those shares.

Nirupam also demanded details about all private placements made by UTI in the last three years be tabled in the House.

He claimed that as per his information, of the 1300 companies in which UTI had invested during this period, as many as 600 were bogus.

Nirupam charged the government with not taking timely and preventive steps despite repeated warnings by the members in the House early this year over UTI's involvement in the multi-billion stock scam that occurred, two days after the presentation of the Budget.

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