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Justice Pathak to head judicial probe New Delhi, November 7 Prime Minister’s media adviser Sanjaya Baru announced that Justice R S Pathak would head the inquiry into the Volcker Committee report and that the scope of the inquiry and the terms of reference would be finalised shortly. Dr Baru’s release said, “Mr Justice R. S. Pathak, former Chief Justice of India and a former judge of the International Court of Justice, The Hague, will head the inquiry into matters relating to the Report of the Independent Inquiry Committee appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to inquire into the UN Oil for Food programme. The scope of the Inquiry and the terms of reference will be announced shortly.” The softspoken Justice Pathak said his job was to find the truth through an independent probe for which no time frame had been fixed. He would go into the entire gamut of the controversy. He acknowledged that the terms of reference of his inquiry had been discussed generally but were yet to be finalised. The commission would submit its report to the government. Asked if he would visit Iraq and the US in the course of his probe, Mr Pathak replied that these matters would be decided later. Late last night Dr Baru had announced the appointment of Congress-led UPA government’s special envoy Virendra Dayal to liaise with the United Nations Organisation and its member-states to gather relevant materials, including those on the unverified references in the Volcker report regarding the involvement of Indian entities and individuals. The special envoy would be granted full power and authority of the union government to execute the responsibilities entrusted to him. The appointment of Mr Dayal would be for an initial term of three months or until the completion of his task, whichever is earlier. Mr Dayal, who has been Chef de Cabinet to former UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, observed that it was too early for him to say what lay ahead. He said, “It is an important assignment and I have to do my job responsibly.” He explained that there were so many things that he had to sort out in his mind. He said he would go to the United Nations in New York at the appropriate time and meet with the relevant people. The appointment of Mr Dayal yesterday and Justice Pathak heading an independent inquiry today are sequels to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s resolve to get to the root of the matter in “establishing the truth or otherwise” about the Volcker Committee report which has singled out the Congress and Mr Natwar Singh, among others, as beneficiaries in Iraq’s Oil-for-Food scandal.  |
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Says he will get to the truth New Delhi, November 7 Approached for his comments soon after being named as the head of the panel, Justice Pathak, a former judge of the International Court of Justice and considered to be an expert in international laws and international arbitration, said “I will find the truth in the allegations in the Volcker report.” Not exactly aware of the terms of reference of the inquiry as he has yet to receive the same from the government, 81-year-old Justice Pathak said he has received the Volcker report and had a “glance” at it. “The terms and reference will be announced shortly, probably in a day or two. Whatever be the terms of reference, it will be to find out the truth in allegations in this report Asked whether he was able to form any “prima facie” opinion after looking into the report, he said “I have no idea yet. I have only glanced through it. The report required a detailed study.” To a question as how much time he would take to submit his findings to the government, Justice Pathak said “It will depend on the material which will come and the study of the documents that will come. I will deal with it in a manner to complete the inquiry as early as possible.” Asked whether in his long career as top jurist of the country he had ever come across any such case where a UN panel had levelled such serious charges against an important political party and the country’s Foreign Minister, he said “I can’t say I have.” To another question whether it would be a probe under the Commission of Inquiry Act, he said “I have not been told about it.” “I am told that I will be given full powers to summon any one. I will be allowed to evolve my own procedure,” he said adding in the event if he found that some more material was required to be looked into he would certainly examine that also. When asked if it would be possible to summon officials of the UN to depose before the panel and if they refused to abide by the commission’s directive what would happen, he said “the commission will devise a method to find out how their views can be sought.” Justice Pathak, who is also the President of the Tribune Trust, said he would take the assistance of Indian diplomat Virender Dayal, who has been assigned the job of fact-finding by the government to collect relevant material pertaining to the allegations in the Volcker report. He said he was in touch with Mr Dayal and had spoken to him as what relevant material could be supplied to the commission. To a pointed question whether Volcker’s purported change of the language of the allegations against UN Secretary-General Kofi Anan’s son would have any bearing on the inquiry, Justice Pathak said “I do not know it will have any bearing on it.” Internationally reputed for his immense knowledge of tax, civil and arbitration laws, Justice Pathak had relinquished the post of Chief Justice of India on June 18, 1989, after he was appointed a judge of the International Court of Justice. Born on November 25, 1924, as a son of former Vice-President G.S. Pathak, he has had a 27-year-long stint in the highest judiciary of the country after he was appointed a judge of the Allahabad High Court in October 1962. Later he was appointed the Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court before being elevated to the Supreme Court as a Judge on March 18, 1972. He had started his career as a lawyer in the Allahabad High Court after getting his law degree in 1948. |
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