No proof against Natwar: PM

Dubbing the Volcker committee findings as "unsubstantiated" references, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said there was no evidence in the allegations against the Congress party and its minister, K Natwar Singh.

Claiming that the raging controversy over the alleged payoffs in Iraqi oil deals had not sullied "our image", he told reporters here that setting up of judicial inquiry and a fact-finding mission was a "search" for truth.

"Our image has not been sullied. Only unsubstantiated reference has been made in the Volcker committee report. There is no evidence. The names of Congress party and Natwar Singhji have been mentioned in the tables. Anybody can write this anywhere. This does not prove how much truth is there in this. We will go to the depth of this and find out the truth," he said.

Asked whether Natwar Singh, who has been stripped of the external affairs portfolio, would continue in various core committees of the government, he said, "We will see... a decision will be taken soon."

On whether he felt Natwar Singh was prima facie involved in the scam, the prime minister said, "No comment should be made at this stage. The truth will come out."

The prime minister said the government had instituted a judicial commission headed by former chief justice of India RS Pathak and appointed veteran diplomat Virendra Dayal a plenipotentiary to probe the whole affair.

Justice Pathak, he said, was the only living Indian who had served at the International Court of Justice. He said Dayal as a plenipotentiary could go to the UN and other countries to find out the truth.