Natwar seeks permission for explanation in RS

Natwar Singh sought permission to make 'a personal explanation' in the RS to 'vindicate' his reputation as Member.

Discredited Congressman and former Union Minister Natwar Singh on Wednesday sought Rajya Sabha Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat's permission to make 'a personal explanation' in the House at the earliest to 'vindicate' his reputation as Member.

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In a letter to Chairman Shekhawat, the Former External Affairs Minister—indicted in the Iraqi Oil-for-Food Coupons Scam—sought permission under the relevant Rule 241 to clear his name of the 'avoidable damage' to his "reputation and prestige as Member" of the Rajya Sabha.

Labelling the Pathak Authority Report—tabled in Parliament on Wednesday—as 'politically biased' against him, he averred that it had made no reference to the Volcker Report which contained "unverified facts which the Prime Minister himself" had refferred to in the House.

Singh further sought Chairman Shekhawat's permission to table in the Rajya Sabha a copy of the affidavit he had filed before the Pathak Authority—which, he said, had not been attached to the Pathak Report.