NEW DELHI, 26 September 2004 — The government has constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) to investigate financial scams during the previous NDA regime. The GoM, headed by Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee, will submit its report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when he returns from his foreign trip.
The GoM will also look into several other issues including privatization of public sector units. Federal Minister Kapil Sibal has been asked to look into the legal aspects of the probe.
Political observers said the exercise was primarily aimed at countering attacks by the Bharatiya Janata Party on the Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections.
The opposition, led by the BJP, has been attacking the UPA government on the issue of corruption-tainted ministers in and outside Parliament. Congress President Sonia Gandhi seems to have approved the UPA’s latest strategy to turn the tables on the opposition.
The BJP has said the Supreme Court’s notice to the government on the issue of “tainted ministers” had vindicated its stand and that it would intensify the campaign for their removal from the government.
At a news conference here, BJP spokesman Arun Jaitley said his party had been running a sustained campaign for the removal of such ministers and pointed out that the NDA leadership had appealed to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to intervene.
On Friday, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the federal government on a petition challenging inclusion of “tainted” persons in the Union Council of Ministers. The court issued the notice on a review petition filed by Manoj Narula seeking reconsideration of the court’s July 16 order dismissing his public interest litigation on the issue.
The petition, which challenged the inclusion of Lalu Prasad, Jai Prakash Yadav, M.A.A. Fatmi and Muhammad Taslimuddin in the Council of Ministers, said the ministers were required to carry out important constitutional functions and should be of impeccable integrity.
The Supreme Court dismissed the petition on July 16, saying no violation of any law had been pointed out by the petitioner. “The matter is being debated in Parliament. We will see if Parliament comes out with any legislation on this issue,” it said.
In a separate development, Chief Election Commissioner T.S. Krishnamurthy said yesterday there was no law now that prevented criminals from contesting elections. It is for lawmakers to enact appropriate legislation on the lines suggested by the Election Commission to prevent the criminalization of politics, he said.
Krishnamurthy was replying to questions at a seminar here over the nomination of candidates with criminal past for the Maharashtra Assembly elections.
He said the commission had recommended that anyone charged with a crime in a court of law be barred from contesting elections, but the Supreme Court favored disqualification of only those convicted.
“Now it is up to lawmakers to act if they want to prevent criminals contesting elections,” he said.
Regarding alleged politicization of the national flag by BJP leader Uma Bharati, he said the commission had made it clear that religious symbols should not be used in election campaigns and if anyone flouts it, the law will take its course.
