Government will not place Bofors papers before Parliament

George Iype in New Delhi

Despite pressure from its partners, the United Front government has decided not to place the Bofors papers before Parliament. Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda will instead brief Parliament during the forthcoming Budget session about the the investigations into the multi-million rupee kickbacks case.

Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Srikant Jena told Rediff On The NeT that "the government is not duty-bound to submit the Bofors papers before Parliament as they are under the scrutiny of the Central Bureau of Investigation."

The non-Congress parties have demanded that the Bofors papers be placed before Parliament so that they become "the property of the people's representatives."

Jena said it is most likely that the prime minister will brief both Houses of Parliament about what the CBI has been able to unearth from the Bofors papers.

"The government as well as the special court has given the CBI a free hand to find out the names of those who benefited from the Bofors kickbacks," the minister said, adding that "the UF government's intention is not to hide what the Bofors papers are going to reveal."

A special CBI task force is currently deciphering these documents relating to the US $ 1.3 billion howitzer gun deal. UF sources said sensing the storm that the Bofors papers will create in Parliament, the prime minister is being briefed regularly by the CBI team headed by its director Joginder Singh.

A senior CBI official said the Prime Minister's Office has ordered Singh and his team not to disclose anything to the media until Deve Gowda makes his presentation to Parliament which is scheduled to begin its Budget session next fortnight.

"The Bofors papers are Deve Gowda's trump card in the prevailing political condition, so he is holding them close to his heart," one government functionary said.

No need for SIT: Joginder Singh