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Sinha offers to quit if Guruswamy's allegations are proved

Allegations made by Mohan Guruswamy, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha's former adviser, about the siphoning off of billions of rupees in the fixing of steel and share prices rocked the Lok Sabha today.

Sinha denied all the allegations and offered to resign if the allegations are proved. The Speaker announced that the issue would be discussed in the House.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, P Shiv Shanker, deputy leader of the Congress party, recalled Guruswamy's charges and said a Joint Parliamentary Committee should be set up to investigate the scam.

Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda said the amount siphoned off in two-and-a-half months was Rs 10 billion. He said this was public money and this kind of siphoning would not be allowed. He wanted to know the steel prices fixed by the government and alleged that the prices were much higher than those in the international market.

Shiv Shanker said the reasons for Guruswamy's ''resignation'' or ''sacking'' still remained a mystery. He said Guruswamy, who was privy to several key decisions, has charged the Prime Minister's Office with helping the Hindujas, Home Minister L K Advani with lobbying for the Essar group, Information and Broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan with siding with the Mittals and Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha with involvement in murky affairs.

Quoting Guruswamy, he said Essar chief Shashi Ruia was called to Sinha's room.The steel prices fixed were much higher than the rates fixed at the inter-ministry level, he said.

Shiv Shanker said there were serious allegations about the transactions of UTI's shares in ITC to the British American Tobacco company. While the prices quoted were Rs 800 per share, Guruswamy had recommended Rs 2,500 per share, he pointed out. Guruswamy later received an offer to remain silent, he recalled.

He said the whole affair was a can of worms and a JPC should be set up to investigate the matter threadbare.

Sinha said Guruswamy's claim of tendering his resignation on January 27 was wrong as Guruswamy was abroad on an official tour to attend a VSNL road show on January 31. His allegations were nothing but the frustration of a man who had been sacked, the minister said.

He said UTI has not taken any steps to transfer shares to BAT and therefore the allegation in this regard was a figment of imagination. Sinha said steel prices were not fixed by the finance minister. It was done by the commerce ministry on the recommendations of the steel ministry, he said.

A large number of Opposition members wanted to speak on the issue and Congress chief whip Professor P J Kurien pleaded with the Speaker to allow them to do so. However, the Speaker said the issue would be discussed in the House after a date was fixed by the business advisory committee.

Later in the evening, the Congress said that it would continue to press for appointing a joint parliamentary committee or JPC to investigate into the steel and share scam involving Rs 50 billion.

Congress spokesman Ajit Jogi said the party would welcome the cooperation of all other opposition parties for this demand.

UNI

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