BJP rejects Pathak report as baseless

The Opposition insists it contained no mention of a letter of introduction from the Congress chief.

The main Opposition BJP on Monday rejected the Pathak authority report as baseless, insisting it contained no mention of a letter of introduction from the Congress chief, which was carried by party leader Natwar Singh to Iraqi authorities in 2001.

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"The report has confirmed our initial suspicion that the Pathak authority will exonerate the Congress of charges that the party was a non-contractual beneficiary of Iraq's Oil-for-Food Programme.

"This report has no basis as nowhere in it is there a mention of the letter of introduction by the Congress chief to the Iraqi authorities," senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra said after tabling in Parliament of the report that has indicted Singh in connection with the charges of being an illegal beneficiary of Iraqi oil contracts.

The BJP leader insisted that the report has left unanswered questions regarding what he called the end-use of oil coupons allegedly procured during the Congress delegation's trip to Iraq.

"It also leaves unanswered the question regarding Sonia Gandhi's letter of introduction," Malhotra said.