The government of India has appointed Justice R S Pathak, former chief justice of India and former judge of the International Court of Justice, to head a one-man inquiry into the findings of the Volcker report.
Announcing this, Sanjay Baru, media advisor to the prime minister, said the scope of inquiry and terms of reference would be announced later.
However, he made it clear that no time limit had been fixed for Justice Pathak to submit his report.
"My job is to find the truth," the former chief justice told a news channel shortly after being named to head the probe.
"We have discussed the terms of the inquiry generally, but it has not been finalised yet," he said adding, that the findings of the commission would be submitted to the government.
Asked if the commission would restrict its probe to India or extend beyond that, he said, "We will have to consider all the legalities." Justice Pathak said till the final terms of reference had been set, it would be too early for him to comment on how exactly the probe would be conducted.
However, Justice Pathak will not only sift through information available in the Volcker report, but will also go through other information and evidence collected. Virendra Dayal, special envoy appointed by the prime minister, will travel to the concerned countries to collect evidence.
"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had promised last week that we will go to the bottom of the allegations against certain individuals and the Indian companied named in the Volcker report. Hence, the appointment of Virendra Dayal," said Baru in response to a question from a newsperson.
He denied that the appointment of Pathak amounts to a cover-up. "A former chief justice of India doesn't do cover up operations," he said.
When asked if there would be any financial expert assisting Justice Pathak in the inquiry, Baru refused to answer the question.
With PTI inputs
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