The Hindu : Congress seeks clarification from Jaitley

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Nov 29, 2003

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National

Congress seeks clarification from Jaitley

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI NOV. 28. The Congress, continuing its tirade against the Government for ``trying to shoot the messenger,'' instead of filing an FIR against the former Union Minister, Dilip Singh Judev, today demanded that the Law Minister, Arun Jaitley, disclose the source of his information that the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister's son was behind the ``sting'' operation that caught a BJP leader with his hand in the till.

The Congress spokesman, Jaipal Reddy, sought to point out the irony in the fact that Mr. Jaitley should ``flaunt a material'' which claims to prove that a member of the Chief Minister's family was involved in the expose when Mr. Judev's assistant personal secretary, Natwar Rateria, is said to have told the CBI that he, along with Mr. Judev, met an official of a mining company at a hotel in November.

``The Law Minister should disclose his source of information, as he is not just a political party functionary or a Member of Parliament. By virtue of being a member of the Council of Ministers, he is bound to disclose his source of information, particularly since the matter does not pertain to his Ministry,''' Mr. Reddy said and asked which hat was Mr. Jaitley wearing while briefing the media today in Raipur and ``flaunting a material'' that is said to reveal the hand of a member of the Jogi family in the expose.''

Mr. Reddy also questioned the way the entire investigation was being carried out.

``What is more urgent and relevant to know? Whether Mr. Judev took the money or who organised the sting operation? Where did Mr. Jaitley get the material from? Is he passing on the material to the CBI or is the CBI passing it on to him?''

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