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Judeo issue: PM assures fair probe New Delhi, December 10 In identical statements before both Houses of Parliament, Mr Vajpayee said his government’s policy had all along been that all allegations pertaining to corruption should be thoroughly inquired into. “I would like to assure this august House that the truth will soon be out and the law will take its own course,” the Prime Minister said. The Prime Minister informed that the CBI had sent notices to both Mr Judeo and his Assistant Private Secretary Natwar Rateria, asking them to appear before the investigating agency. Mr Vajpayee argued that the CBI had full functional autonomy and under the recently-enacted Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Act, the superintendence of the CBI in relation to offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act had been vested by the government in the CVC. He also stated that the decision to register a preliminary inquiry, a regular case or file a chargesheet was taken by the CBI and the government did not interfere in these decisions. He maintained that the CBI was inquiring into the whole matter and it would be premature to state anything till the investigation was complete. Soon after the Prime Minister’s statement, the Lok Sabha started a discussion on it under Rule 193 (which does not entail voting), while the Rajya Sabha would debate on it tomorrow. Mr Vajpayee would reply to the debate in the Upper House on Friday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said. Mr Vajpayee said on the basis of the Indian Express story and other print and electronic media reports, the CBI had registered a preliminary inquiry on November 18 against Mr Judeo, Mr Rateria and Mr Rahul, purportedly a representative of an Australian mining company. Soon after the Prime Minister made the statement, several BJP members wanted to know about the Ajit Jogi tape episode, but Speaker Manohar Joshi asked them to air their views in the discussion on the Prime Minister’s statement that he had allowed. Opposition members in the Lok Sabha charged the Vajpayee government with failure to hold proper investigation into any of the several corruption charges levelled against it since it came to power and demanded a Joint Parliamentary probe into the Judeo episode. Initiating the discussion on Prime Minister’s statement, Mr Ramji Lal Suman, Samajwadi Party, charged the government with “eroding” the credibility of the CBI. He said the CBI had lost its credibility as the government was influencing its investigations. Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, Congress, said the Prime Minister’s statement concealed more than it revealed. He said the government had always shied away from coming out with the truth, be it the Kargil coffin scam, the Bangaru Laxman episode, or the DDA scam or the Judeo issue. Mr Anadicharan Sahu, BJP, said Mr Judeo had accepted money for a good cause, while Mr Jogi had tried to subvert the democratic process.  |
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