NEW DELHI: The censoring of some key portions of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) documents sub- mitted to the Joint Parliamentary Committee by the Finance Ministry touched off uproar in Parliament on Nov.27 with the Opposition accusing the Government of trying to “shield” some persons involved in the multi-crore scam.
A gitated members in both the Houses said the Finance Ministry was tampering with the information and scuttling the functioning of the JPC which amounted to a breach of privilege. Waiving copies of the Indian Express, which had published documents blacked out with ink, the members asked the Finance _—- Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, who was present in the Lok Sabha, to make a statement to clarify the matter.
The Lok Sabha Speaker, Shivraj Patil, after hearing views of leaders of opposition as well as the Congress ruled that the JPC was a “mini-parliament.” It enjoyed all powers given to Parliament. “It can ask for any information. And if something is erased, the JPC can ask government for it.” If even after that relevant information was withheld, the JPC chairman could approach the Speaker.
The Home Minister, S.B.Chavan assured the Rajya Sabha members that “no one howsoever big will be protected if found guilty. There is no question of withholding in- formation and the JPC will be given all information it would need,”
Raising the matter in the Lok Sabha, Leader of the Opposition, L.K.Advani, said that it was the second time the Finance Ministry had been found to have tampered with the information provided to the JPC. In the first case, it may be recalled, the JPC members belonging to the ruling party were supplied documents with a view to influence the Committee.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 11, 1992
