Privilege motion against Sinha

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, AUG. 21. A privilege motion was moved today against the Union Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, in the Rajya Sabha by the Congress MP, Mr. Kapil Sibal, on the grounds that the Minister had ``deliberately misled'' the House while replying to a discussion on the Unit Trust of India (UTI) muddle.

The Chairman, Mr. Krishan Kant, said the matter would be considered by him and, if admitted, it would have to be sent to the Lok Sabha, since Mr. Sinha was a member of that House. The issue also resulted in verbal clashes between the ruling party MPs and the Opposition. Mr. Sinha, who was in the House, also responded.

Mr. Sibal, in his notice, said while replying to the short- duration discussion, the Minister had said that the Ministry was kept in the dark by the former UTI Chief, Mr. P.S. Subramanyam, on the US-64 freeze and that the Ministry decided to act only after the UTI Board took a decision.

Mr. Sibal, quoting news reports and from the bail application filed by Mr. Subramanyam before a CBI court in Mumbai, said the latter had stated that he kept the Government informed on the state of affairs of UTI.

Mr. Nilotpal Basu of the CPI (M) sought to know why the Minister had not clarified the issue since the matter was raised in the House earlier despite assurance by the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Santosh Gangwar, to bring it to the notice of the Minister.

On his part, the Finance Minister, Mr. Sinha, said he was willing to respond earlier, but on Tuesday, when he planned to clarify, the House was adjourned. He charged the Opposition was raising the issue several days after the statement and it amounted to ``flogging a dead horse'' with a view to get attention in the media.

Despite protests from the BJP MPs, Mr. Sibal read out his motion with the Opposition MPs responding in equal measure. In between, Mr. S.S. Ahluwalia (BJP), who rose to support the Finance Minister found himself in trouble. His remark to Mr. Balkavi Bairagi (Cong.) on poetry resulted in objection from several MPs, including Telugu poet, Dr. C. Narayan Reddy, forcing Mr. Ahluwalia to withdraw his comment.

Later the Congress Chief spokesman, Mr. S. Jaipal Reddy, said at the daily briefing that Mr. Sinha should tell the country whether he was told in advance by the UTI about the decision to suspend the sale and repurchase of US-64. Mr. Sinha should also come clean on the averments of Mr. Subramanyam with regard to their official interaction.

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