On Volcker, PM leaves talking to ED

Singh has sought more time to consult his records and come back with an answer to the questions raised by the ED. He has assured full cooperation.

Singh, officials said, has not answered questions on the alleged payments to the Ba’athist regime or coupons sold in the open market. He has also been asked preliminary questions on his relations with Andaleeb Seghal and Jamil Azmal Zaidi. Both Zaidi and Seghal have been questioned by the ED earlier. The officials said Singh will be questioned again.

The ED has also submitted a preliminary report to the Finance Ministry on its team’s visit to Iraq and Jordan. The report has confirmed that both Jagat and Andaleeb Seghal had to been Iraq at the relevant time and had met Iraqi officials along with Natwar Singh.

The ED team’s efforts to fish out bank documents from Jordan have, however, not been fruitful. Sources said the Jordanian authorities have told the ED team, led by Sudeer Nath, that banking secrecy laws prevent them from sharing information since the alleged offence is neither a criminal offence nor an offence in their own country.

Meanwhile, in Parliament today, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took on the Opposition on the Volcker issue and refused to be drawn into a controversy. Earlier, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Jaswant Singh, had sought a clarification from the government on the statement made by the former Indian ambassador to Croatia Aneil Mathrani.

Singh firmly told the House that ‘‘the matter is under investigation. There is nothing more for me to state’’.

Referring to his December 2 statement in the Parliament, Singh said: ‘‘I had clearly and unambiguously stated that the Enforcement Directorate will take cognizance of the recent statement attributed to India’s former ambassador to Croatia. Whether the transactions under investigation are true is a subject matter of investigation.’’

‘‘There is nothing more for me add,’’ he told the House. ‘‘The investigation was progressing and the Enforcement Directorate was doing its duty,’’ the Prime Minister added.