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Congress demands JPC probe into charges against PM, 3 ministers

The Congress today demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the ''specific charges of corruption'' levelled against Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and three Cabinet colleagues.

Party spokesman Ajit Jogi said the Centre should not hesitate to hold a JPC inquiry to probe whether the allegations levelled by sacked navy chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat and former advisor to the finance ministry Mohan Guruswamy, against Vajpayee and three Cabinet ministers -- Naveen Patnaik, George Fernandes and Yashwant Sinha -- were baseless and fabricated as claimed by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition.

He said the Congress would continue to doubt the intentions and credibility of the BJP-led coalition till it ordered a JPC probe into the ''specific'' charges of corruption levelled by Guruswamy and Bhagwat.

The BJP, has, opposed the Opposition's demand for a JPC probe into Guruswamy's allegations, saying it would be very dangerous for Parliament to discuss allegations unsupported by solid evidence.

Participating in the short discussion in the Rajya Sabha on the issues raised by Guruswamy, Arun Shourie (BJP) sought to rebut point by point the charges levelled by the sacked adviser to the finance minister in interviews and articles in various newspapers.

''You are asking for a JPC probe merely on the basis of allegations made without evidence in newspapers...You are mortgaging Indian public life to those who are themselves in the dock,'' Shourie said.

He said the Opposition could build a case for a JPC inquiry only if it had ''good evidence''. He said Guruswamy has made wild allegations ''with not a single iota of evidence''.

UNI

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