Pathak report rocks Parliament

The question of who leaked the findings of Pathak Inquiry Authority on the Indians named in the oil-for-food scam investigated by the United Nations claimed centrestage as the government's floor managers tried to distract attention from the damaging contents of the report itself.

In both Houses of Parliament, no business could be conducted as the Opposition demanded to know not just who leaked the report before it was tabled in Parliament but also why only Natwar Singh was indicted while the Congress was exonerated.

The government on its part focused attention on the leak and promised to get it probed.

The morning belonged to the Opposition with Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha L K Advani demanding that the report be tabled in the House.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Dasmunsi could only reply that that "nobody in the government" had leaked the report. Speaker Somnath Chatterjee too said that he was concerned at the leakage of the report.

In the Rajya Sabha too much the same happened with the House being adjourned at 12 noon for the entire day.

L K Advani, outside the House, said that a meeting of the NDA would be called to determine whether a privilege motion could be brought against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the leakage of the report.

"The leakage of the report is, however, a secondary thing. We want to know why the Congress has been exonerated, while Natwar Singh has been indicted," he said. "Natwar Singh has been made a scapegoat," he added.

The UPA meanwhile consolidated behind the Congress and concentrated on berating the BJP for disrupting the House.

UPA leaders, like Basudeb Acharia of the CPM, Gurudas Dasgupta of CPI, Kuppusawami and Krishsnaswami of the DMK, Devender Pra-sad Yadav of the RJD and Brajesh Pathak of the BSP addressed a joint press conference decrying the NDA's behaviour in the House today.

"We are also concerned about the report and the leakage. We wanted a discussion and the Speaker had allowed Advani to speak. There was no need to disrupt the proceedings," said Acharia. Dasmunsi said that the BJP wanted to distract attention from the "PMO mole issue" and the Kandahar hijacking case.

"We know their tactics. But they are devaluing the Parliamentary tradition of debate and discussion," he said.