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THE NATION: SAMATA PARTY
Fernandes Camp Apprehensive
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| TIMED OUT: Venkatswami has been told by the
NDA to hasten the probe |
It was a coup of
sorts for Fernandes when he led Mamata back to the political front. It
was an additional bonus when Mamata's re-entry coincided with disclosures
that Tehelka had used prostitutes in its Operation West End. The revelations
considerably eroded the website's moral authority. Yet neither Mamata's
reinduction into the NDA nor Tehelka's unedifying methods can herald Fernandes'
acquittal. He had resolved to return to the Union Cabinet only after the
commission of inquiry gave him a clean chit. And the Fernandes camp is
now apprehensive that he would have to wait interminably for the panel
to complete its job. Their fears are not without basis. Both the Government
and the panel have given them enough reason to expect the worst.
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ZAFARYAB JILANI
"It is a political gimmick"
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| Vajpayee is
more dangerous than Advani, says AIBMAC Convener Zafaryab Jilani in
a conversation with Assistant Editor Sharad Gupta.
Q. Have you held any dialogue with the Centre
on Ayodhya?
A. No. Every prime minister from V.P. Singh to P.V. Narasimha
Rao has spoken to us but not Vajpayee.
Q. But Vajpayee has claimed he is having talks
to find a solution.
A. He must be talking through his hat. In fact, we had indicated
in January that we were ready for talks but no one approached us.
Q. What do you make of the prime minister's
assurance?
A. It is a political gimmick on the eve of Uttar Pradesh assembly
elections in which his party is sure to suffer a setback. It also
shows the Centre will keep mum while the VHP will carry out its
movement.
Q. Hasn't Vajpayee made it clear he will wait
for the court verdict?
A. Public memory is very short. Vajpayee is much more dangerous
than L.K. Advani who does exactly what he says. This man says something,
means something else and does something else.
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The panel, which began functioning since March,
was originally supposed to submit its findings in four months but has
now got an extension till November. The commission is looking at 14 defence
deals and has so far examined only two witnesses. Fernandes used the recent
disclosures on Tehelka to persuade his NDA colleagues to adopt a resolution
directing the commission to speed up its work. Its elaborate probe into
defence deals was holding up arms purchases, he declared. "Too many
ministry files are lying with the commission." The Defence Ministry
was obliged to deny that the delay was affecting its purchases.
The NDA's complaint about the slow progress
has not gone well with lawyers and the commission either. "This is
far from true. All of us associated with the commission have given up
our regular court work," says Gopal Subramanium, the commission's
counsel. He blames the Government for the delay in securing infrastructure
during the first three months: "We began hearing only in July."
He is confident that the panel would complete its work by November 25.
The two commissions led by Justice J.S. Verma and Justice D.P. Wadhwa
in which he worked had completed their work almost on schedule. He denied
that the commission was probing too deeply into the defence deals that
figured in the spycam scam. "The material before the panel is voluminous.
It is adhering to an established protocol of inquiry."
The Government, however, sees no specific links
between the spycam revelations and the defence deals. "So far we
have not reached Operation West End. The panel is going into other deals
in needless depth," says a law officer. As a remedial measure Additional
Solicitor-General Kirit Raval has suggested certain procedural changes
to quicken the pace of work.
It is quite possible, as some lawyers point
out, that the misgivings about the Venkatswami Commission's pace of work
persist only because its proceedings are being held in camera. Once the
hearings are made public, Fernandes and his friends will have less to
gripe about. For the moment, it is turning out to be a case of justice
delayed and political gains denied for the Samata chief.
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