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Opposition leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Thursday demanded that
the Government must clarify whether the facts relating to the
fodder seam, which he mentioned in his letter to Prime Minister
Inder Kumar Gujral, were correct or not.
In a press statement, Mr Vajpayee said it was immaterial what his
source was. Besides, on the question of his source of information,
Mr Vajpayee claimed it was his privilege to know what is going on.
The press statement issued by Mr Vajpayee follows:
All kinds of unwarranted motives are being attributed to my letter
to the Prime Minister dated April 24, 1997.
In that letter, I had pointed out to the Prime Minister that
despite having given an undertaking to the Patna High Court that it
would give a definite answer about the conspiracy aspect of the Rs
950-crore fodder scandal by April 28, the CBI Director "has now
decided to play for time in the matter" by "taking the plea that
while the accounts of 1994-95 establishes their (the 85 persons
against whom prosecution was recommended by the Special Director)
guilt, they should examine the accounts for the period 1991-94 to
make the case foolproof."
My letter was an expression of apprehension - that despite the
Prime Minister's assurance on the floor of the House that he would
not protect any guilty person, the Central Bureau of Investigation
may choose to delay the filing of chargesheets on one pretext or
the other. In a sense, the letter can be construed as criticism of
the CBI chief's earlier attempt to delay the proceedings.
Surprisingly, some politicians of the Janata Dal, including the
Bihar Chief Minister, have levelled the allegation that the letter
was written at the behest of the CBI. Given the contents of the
letter, this allegation can at best be described as ridiculous and
reflects the desperation of these politicians.
A second point that has been made pertains to my mentioning
"accused No 24 in the conspiracy case. " It is being asked as to
how I got the information about the list of accused and that the
"accused No 24," as it has now turned out, is Shri Laloo Prasad
Yadav. Nowhere did I mention in my letter, copies of which were
made public on April 25, that "accused No 24 is Shri Yadav."
As for my source of information, it is a matter of privilege.
Indeed, the source of this information is immaterial and not a moot
point at all. What is pertinent is whether or not this information
is correct. During the discussions on the fodder scandal in the
Lok Sabha on April 30, some members from the Treasury benches
sought to obfuscate the issue at hand by raising questions about
the source of my information. It is a pity that they did not seek
an explanation from the Government as to whether the information is
correct, which they ought to have done.
It is entirely up to the Janata Dal as to how it deals with the
matter. It is their internal affair. But the Government owes an
explanation about what it proposes to do and whether it will
actively pursue the prosecution of those against whom the Central
Bureau of Investigation has recommended prosecution.
The Government is not answerable to the Janata Dal or the United
Front, but to the Parliament and the nation. Let the Prime
Minister remember this simple fact while dealing with the fodder
scandal.
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