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BJP clears Hegde, Jethmalani

Rajesh Ramachandran in New Delhi

Commerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde and Urban Development Minister Ram Jethmalani have secured a clean chit from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

The BJP, in an effort to retain its media friendly image, has asked Pramod Mahajan, the prime minister's political advisor, to brief the media every day. It was at his media conference on Thursday that Mahajan revealed there was no case against Hegde and Jethmalani.

"I can say you have violated the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, but that does not mean any agency is investigating such a case. We have not asked any agency to investigate and we don't know about any investigation," Mahajan said.

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary J Jayalalitha had earlier levelled corruption charges against Hegde and Jethmalani, and asked Prime Minister A B Vajpayee to sack both ministers.

Vajpayee asked Hegde and Jethmalani to reply to Jayalalitha's charges. He later mentioned that the replies would be send to the attorney general for a legal opinion. But Mahajan said this does not mean the government is pursuing cases against both ministers.

"The prime minister could not take any decision on the corruption charges by himself, so he asked for the replies. Now it would not be fair for him to take a decision on the replies. That is why the replies were sent to the attorney general," Mahajan added.

Jayalalitha, he said, will attend the co-ordination committee meeting on Saturday; she will have a separate meeting with Vajpayee that day.

The co-ordination committee will discuss the implementation of the ruling coalition's national agenda.

The disclosure of the Srikrishna Commission report will have to wait. Mahajan suggested this afternoon that no punitive action can be taken even if the report is not made public.

"There is no clause in the Commission of Enquiry Act which calls for punitive action. The Maharashtra government has enough time to table the report in the assembly. The report was submitted on February 16 so the government has to make it public only by August 15," Mahajan felt.

As a conciliatory gesture to the minorities, Mahajan announced that the PM will look into the cases of prisoners who have been booked under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act.

Though TADA lapsed in 1995, it has been an interminable wait for its detenues. A delegation met Vajpayee in Bombay last Friday and asked him to either convert the cases to offences under the Indian Penal Code or make arrangements so that people booked under TADA could get bail.

The government intends to introduce the women's reservation bill, the Prasar Bharti bill, the electoral reforms bill, the Lok Pal bill and the ordinance on regulatory commissions for the power sector during the Budget session. The draft bills will be discussed with the Opposition parties on May 14 and 15.

EARLIER REPORTS:
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