NEW DELHI, MARCH 13: The leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Manmohan Singh, on Saturday demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the allegations made by former advisor to the finance minister, Mohan Guruswamy, that certain ministers were lobbying for industrial houses and influencing Government decisions.Initiating a discussion on the issues raised by Guruswamy after his dismissal, Singh said Guruswamy had alleged in the media that a coterie centred around the prime minister interfered in the day-to-day functioning of the Government, which was enough to establish a prima facie case for an in-depth investigation.He said Guruswamy had alleged that the referral price for imported hot-rolled coils of $ 302 per tonne fixed by the Government was $ 50 more than the price agreed to by the inter-ministerial committee. Singh said if the steel industry needed reliefs, it should have been sought in a transparent manner and not by flouting norms, principles and procedures, creating doubtsin the public mind.Singh said Guruswamy had also alleged that a foreign investor had been given a loan beyond the set norms and various government wings had tried to scuttle the Tata Airlines proposal.BJP members raised objections to Singh basing his criticism on newspaper reports but chairman Krishan Kant overruled them saying Singh was not himself levelling allegations.Similarly, when Singh mentioned the allegation about a minister interfering in favour of a particular company, Information and Broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan said that the allegation was baseless.Communist Party of India (Marxist) member Mohammed Salim also supported the demand for JPC probe into Guruswamy's allegations which he said were only the "tip of the iceberg", adding that the Prime Minister should explain the situation. Jitendra Prasada of the Congress said the issues raised by Guruswamy had created confusion in the country.However, opposing the demand for a JPC probe, BJP member Arun Shourie said it would bedangerous for the House to discuss allegations unsupported by evidence. He said a JPC probe could not be sought merely on the basis of allegations made without evidence in newspapers. "You are mortgaging Indian public life to those who are themselves in the dock," he said.
