NEW DELHI, 4 September 2006 — Former External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh has hit the headlines again with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) having issued a show cause notice to him and several others for alleged irregularities in the Iraqi oil-for-food scam.
Natwar, his son Jagat, his friend Andaleeb Sehgal, Vikas Dhar and two firms Hamdan Exports Private Limited and Hamdan India Private Limited have been given time till Sept. 14 to reply to these showcause notices, which are also viewed as virtual chargesheets under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) with civil liability.
Natwar is expected to give explanation regarding the letters purportedly written by him to Iraqi officials in Saddam Hussein’s regime introducing Sehgal, a friend of his son (Jagat) and recommending him for contracts under the UN-sponsored oil-for-food program in Iraq, sources said.
Natwar had been questioned by ED on Feb. 17 and 18 on the basis of a set of bank documents from Iraq and Jordan in the oil-for-food scam. FEMA regards abetment also as a violation of the act. The government is apparently also deliberating on initiating criminal proceedings against Natwar.
The matter would go for civil adjudication after Natwar and others file a reply to the showcause notices. The matter would then go for civil adjudication and financial penalties would be imposed on them, if they are found guilty.
ED began the probe in October last year. As per the evidence unearthed by ED, Jagat benefited financially from the oil-for-food scam. ED is also believed to understand that Sehgal and Aditya Khanna are the two key beneficiaries in the scam.
Describing this development as “unfortunate,” Natwar said yesterday that his lawyers would give a fitting reply to the department. “This is a very unfortunate state of affairs that a department of central government is harassing and trying to defame me,” Natwar said.
Less than a week ago, asserting his innocence in the entire scam, Natwar had claimed that the Pathak Inquiry Authority report into Volcker findings on Iraqi oil scam had given him and his son a clean chit as it “revealed that we did not take a single paisa in the scam.”
His son Jagat has said that he is “ashamed” to be a Congressman. Though Natwar is angry at the party having taken action against him related to the scam, having suspended him from the party less than a month ago, he still remains a member of the Congress. Being a member of the Rajya Sabha, on the Congress ticket, despite his suspension, he is abiding by the party whip.
