LS adjourned till 1500 hrs on Pathak report leak

New Delhi, Aug 4: The Lok Sabha was today adjourned till 1500 hours as the Opposition raised an uproar over the leaking the Justice Pathak Committee's report to the media when Parliament was in session.

The irate Opposition members trooped into the well of the House asking the government how the report on the probe into the Iraqi oil-for-food scam was leaked to the media simultaneously when it was submitted to the Prime Minister yesterday.

As soon as the House assembled in the morning, the Leader of the Opposition L K Advani got up to raise the issue and received immediate support from all the party leaders barring Congress that the government should investigate how it was leaked and take action against those involved in the act.

''It is intriguing that the report was submitted to the Prime Minister and leaked to the press at the same time. It is contempt of Parliament,'' said Mr Advani.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi asserted that the report was not leaked by the government and said it would look into the matter.

Speaker Somnath Chatterjee also reacted strongly to the leak and condemned it, saying that the report should not have been published before it was placed before Parliament. The Speaker asked the government to explain how the leak of the report took place and should make an inquiry into the issue.

But the Speaker did not allow any comment and discussion on the content of the report published in the media and asserted that ''the media report cannot be discussed and taken note of in the House as per the established Parliamentary norms''.

When the Opposition members went up on their feet, Parliamentary Affairs Minister asserted categorically that it was not the government and the PMO which had leaked the report and committed that the government would look into the matter.

Mr Advani and other Opposition parties leaders, including Prabhunath Singh (JD-U), Yarren Naidu (TDP) and Brij Kishore Tripathi(BJD) said the leak smacked of a calculated move on the part of the interested party.

''The Volcker issue surfaced in Parliament which indicted the ruling Congress party and the former external affairs minister Natwar Singh.... as a result of that, an Inquiry Authority was instituted to probe into the matter. But it is most unfortunate that any inquiry report into such an important matter was leaked to the media.'' They alleged that it looked like an attempt to exonerate Congress and other people involved in the scam.

The Left leaders - Gurudas Dasgupta(CPI) and Roopchand Pal (CPI-M) - and RJD leader Devendra Prasad Yadav too criticised the leak and said it was intriguing and a ''violation of Parliamentary norms''.

''It is an unusual coincidence that a report is submitted to the Prime Minister and simultaneously leaked to the media,'' Mr Dasgupta said.

The Left leader and SP leader Mohan Singh demanded immediate action against those involved in the leak and tabling of the report along with Action Taken Report.

UNI

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