PIL seeks Sonia, Natwar prosecution in Oil for Food scam

New Delhi, Apr 27 (UNI) A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking prosecution of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh under Prevention of Corruption Act for their alleged involvement in the oil for food scam.

The petitioner, Stanley Lewis, a resident of Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, has sought directions from the apex court to the Centre to register a criminal case against the two leaders and also to dissolve the Justice R S Pathak Inquiry Authority probing the scandal.

The references against the party and Mr Singh were made in a report by a United Nations committee headed by Paul A Volcker. It stated that kickbacks worth Rs. 3.38 crore were allegedly received by the Congress Party and Mr Natwar Singh who were authorised by the then Saddam Hussain regime in Iraq to lift 4 million barrels of oil as non-contracting beneficiaries.

In the wake of the allegations, Mr Natwar Singh was divested of his External Affairs portfolio on November 7, 2005. He continued to remain in the Cabinet as minister without portfolio before resigning on December 6, 2005. He was later dropped from the Congress Working Committee.

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