Malhotra rescinds his decision to quit cash-for-vote panel

New Delhi, Oct 30 (UNI) BJP Delhi Chief Ministerial candidate Vijay Kumar Malhotra today rescinded his decision to quit the Parliamentary panel probing the Cash-for-Vote scam.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has conveyed to Prof Malhotra that it was not feasible for him to appoint a new member to the committee at a stage when it is all set to give its final report on the scandal.

Confirming his resignation from the panel a week ago, Prof Malhotra said he was given to understand that the Speaker expressed his inability to appoint a new member on the panel which had to finalise its report in today's meeting. The report will get further delayed if some other MP is to be appointed to the panel as he has to understand the issues right from scratch. "I attended today's meeting after I was informed of the Speaker's views," Prof Malhotra said.

Asked if the panel had approved the 'draft report', prepared by the officials of the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the BJP MP from South Delhi said one week's time has been given to the MPs to record their dissent if the members did not agree with the contents of the draft circulated in the dying stages of the last meeting ahead of the Parliamentary Sittings.

Prof Malhotra said since he had attended the meeting today, his resignation letter had become redundant and said he would file his dissent in the stipulated time period.

The cash-for-vote scam had rocked the Lok Sabha on July 22 when three BJP MPs flashed wads of currency allegedly given to them as 'advance' for voting for the UPA Government's Confidence motion. A panel headed by Mr Kishore Chandra Deo was appointed to probe into the allegations.

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