NEW DELHI, India, Aug. 21, Reuter: A senior minister in the Indian cabinet has resigned in order to head a Parliamentary inquiry into the allegations that the Swedish arms maker Bofors bribed Indian officials to clinch a 1.3 billion dollar deal. The Parliamentary Affairs Ministry said Water Resources Minister B. Shankaranand, currently involved in the fight against India’s worst drought this century, resigned late yesterday. Shankaranand was the sixth cabinet member to quit since March but ruling Congress (I) party sources that unlike some of the ministers who had resigned, Shankaranand was still loyal to the party.
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is expected to accept his offer to go and might temporarily take over his portfolio. Gandhi already heads a national crisis group directing drought relief measures.
The ruling party yesterday announced its nominations to the 30member Parliamentary inquiry into whether Indian public figures accepted bribes from Bofors to help it win a contract to supply field guns to the Indian army.
Congress will have two thirds of the seats on the inquiry committee, which will run in parallel with a probe ordered on Wednesday by Stockholm prosecutor Lars Ringberb.
Apart from four seats occupied by Congress allies, the opposition will boycott the inquiry because the government has refused to allow it to summon ministers for questioning or to examine other defense deals over which allegations of corruption have been made.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 28, 1987
