HC allows hearing of Natwar's plea

New Delhi, July 20 (UNI) The Delhi High Court today allowed to hear the plea of former external affairs minister Natwar Singh and his son Jagat Singh who challenged the single bench order of the court which refused access to documents lying with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) upon which the investigating relied while building a case against them in the Iraq's oil-for-food programme.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice M K Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Khanna took cognizance of the matter and deferred the hearing for August two as the matter needed to be heard extensively.

The Bench refused to accept the contention of Additional Solicitor General P P Malhotra, who wanted the dismissal of the petitions on the grounds that Supreme Dourt also did not allow access to those documents which the investigating agency had relied upon.

The single bench of Justice Badr Durrez Ahmed had earlier dismissed the request of Natwar Singh and Jagat Singh to provide them the copies of those papers which were relied upon by the ED to book them in the case.

UNI