Natwar, son issued fresh notices by ED

New Delhi, Sep 3: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today issued a fresh notice to the former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh, a non-contractual beneficiary in the 'oil-for-food' scam.

Confirmation of the receipt of the notice came from Mr Singh himself, who claimed that he had not gone through the contents yet.

Sources said besides Mr Singh and his son Jagat Singh, notices have been issued to four others for alleged violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

They have been given time till September 14 for replying to the notices.

To a suggestion whether it was aimed at sullying his image, the suspended Congress leader retorted, ''It is not easy to spoil my image. My honour is in my hand.'' He added that he would raise the issue in Parliament and would file a defamation suit against the ED, if the need arose. ''My lawyers will give a befitting reply.'' A showcause notice was also issued to his son Jagat Singh, sources said.

Mr Singh had to quit as Foreign Minister in the face of the UN-sponsored probe panel report, headed by Paul Volcker, which named him and the Congress as ''non-contractual beneficiaries'' during the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

Justice R S Pathak, head of the probe authority which went into the issue, had found Mr Singh a beneficiary in the oil-for-food scam.

The Opposition, however, have dubbed the report ''half enquiry and half cover-up'' because the probe did not go into the role of the Congress named in the report.

UNI