Jagat alleges conspiracy in Cong

New Delhi: A day after Justice Pathak committee, which probed allegations made in the Volcker Report, declared its findings, Jagat Singh, son of former external affairs minister Natwar Singh, on Friday reiterated that he had not received any money in the Oil-for-Food scam.

Claiming that he and his father stood "vindicated", Jagat said that the Oil-for-Food scam used as an attempt to get rid of his father from the Congress party. Natwar Singh had resigned as the external affairs minister in the wake of the controversy in December 2005.

"We haven't received money; we stand vindicated," said Jagat in an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN. "The report has not found any money trail to us. As no money has been taken, no charge should be leveled against us,” he said.

He also said that he could not comment on the allegations against him and his father till he reads the Pathak report and that he was sure the allegations would be disproved.

He didn’t deny that his father had written introduction letters to Iraqi authorities for Andaleeb Sehgal but said it was not wrong or illegal. Andaleeb, a friend of Jagat, allegedly used the letters to secure oil contracts from Saddam Hussein’s regime.

"If getting such a contract is crime, then 150 other companies (which were given contracts to lift oil) are also guilty,” he said. Jagat admitted that Sehgal made profit out of the contracts but said that was natural for a businessman.

On being asked if he believed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was acting on behest of Finance Minister P Chidambaram to implict him and his father in the scam, Jagat said: ‘most definitely.’

He demanded that a probe be conducted into how the Pathak committee treated his father and Congress as separate entities when they both faced similar charges. However, he clarified that he had no plans to quit the party.

He also said “Volcker was a convenient excuse to get rid of my father” for a section in the Congress party.

He alleged that ED officials were being “flogged to come up with something…anything (evidence)” against him and his father. He said that the ED had no evidence against him.

He also said the Mercedes seized by the Enforcement Directorate was not his.

Outside Parliament, Natwar made a similar statement. Natwar said he and the Congress could not be divorced and he will reply to any questions asked by the party in connection with his indictment by the Pathak committee.

"The only strength I had was the Congress party. So how can the Congress party and I be divorced"
Natwar Singh

Natwar did not respond when asked about the possibility of his joining the Samajwadi Party.

"The only strength I had was the Congress party. So how can the Congress party and I be divorced," he told reporters outside Parliament when asked if he was planning to quit the party.

In a brief statement to the media after his indictment by the Pathak panel in the Iraqi oil-for-food scam, Natwar had questioned the clean chit given to the Congress party in the matter.

"How can any aspersion be cast on me and Congress given a clean chit," the senior Congress leader said.

Natwar resigned from the Cabinet last December year in the wake of the political storm triggered by the Volcker Committee's findings that he and Congress were non-contractual beneficiaries in the UN oil-for-food programme during Saddam Hussain regime.

Meanwhile, Chidambaram issued a statement and said he had no knowledge about the contents of the Pathak report. He rejected Jagat’s allegations that the ED was acting at his behest. "I don't interfere with the Enforcement Directorate," said Chidambaram.

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