Govt trying to cover up Volcker findings: BJP

Alleging a strong prima facie case of pay-offs to Congress and former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh in the Volcker findings, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday charged the United Progressive Alliance government with deliberately taking a faulty route in probing the Iraqi oil scam.

"As no attempt has been made to investigate the money trail, the Justice R S Pathak Inquiry Authority was nothing but a crude attempt to cover up the issue," senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said, initiating a debate on the Volcker report in the Rajya Sabha.

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He warned that without filing an FIR, the Swiss court would not entertain any probe in the matter as in the case of Bofors.

To crack the Swiss banking secrecy, charges should have been framed on various counts and without which the Indian government would not be able to crack the veil of secrecy of the Swiss authorities to hand over necessary documents on pay-offs, Jaitley said.

Accusing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of adopting double standards, he said the least the prime minister could do was to undertake the correct course of investigation and get rid of his tainted colleague.

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Observing that the Volcker report was not an ordinary document but was significant as far as India was concerned, Jaitley said the UPA government was voted to power as it promised a corruption-free government and the prime minister had said there would be zero-tolerance on corruption.

But, unfortunately, the UPA government had in its fold tainted, absconding and jailed ministers, he said.      

Jaitley said by appointing the Pathak committee without arming it with provisions of FIR and powers to issue notices, the government had deliberately chosen a wrong path to draw a blank in the investigation.

Terming the Volcker pay-offs as a serious criminal case, he said, "All evidences point to the alleged involvement of Congress party and Natwar Singh through Andleeb Sehgal and Hamdon Exports."

The moot point in the investigation was who actually received the coupons and on whose behalf and who passed on them to the Swiss trading company Masefield, he said, adding, "You are trying to hide behind the veil of banking secrecy."