Tags:
Journalism of Courage
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.
