Plainly UNtenable

The Congress party plans to take the United Nations and the Paul Volcker committee to court, demanding full disclosure of the material on the basis of which it was concluded that the party and External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh were beneficiaries of the Iraqi oil deal scam. This may prove a great career move for the party8217;s legal stalwarts, like Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi, to showcase their indisputable talent on the world stage, but bodes ill for India.

The Congress understandably is desperate about clearing its name and reputation, but does it have to drag the rest of us with it in this bid? Here we are arguing for our right to a seat in the UN Security Council and now petulantly refusing to recognise the credibility of a process that bears the UN8217;s stamp of authority. And how exactly does the party plan to go about it? File a suit at the Tis Hazari? The US Supreme Court? The International Court of Justice? The UN statutes give it sovereign immunity against civil or criminal legal action 8212; and although Paul Volcker has stated that the party is welcome to send a legal notice, the Congress8217;s intention to do so has been the cause for more than a few smirks all around. After all, as Volcker pointed out on Friday, these revelations emerged in Iraqi records and his Committee did not indicate whether they were right or wrong.

Legal notices 8212; even if it is only to salvage a modicum of self-respect, or what passes for it 8212; therefore cannot work. In any case, even ordinary mortals, before they consider legal action, first exhaust the various potential remedies available to them. It makes sense for the Congress party to review its stance in a more considered and deliberate manner. It may then realise that the onus is on the party, and External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh, to prove their innocence. Jumping on to a flight for New York, with the documents of a legal suit in the pocket, is plainly not the answer.