Rao gets a call from Sikh riots probe panel

The earlier inquiry, which had been conducted by Justice Ranganath Misra in 1985-86, gave a clean chit to the Congress party and the Rajiv Gandhi government without giving such a notice to any leader, including Rao.

The notice issued today by the Nanavati Commission after completing the recording of evidence implies that the second inquiry may give a finding that is ‘‘prejudicial’’ to Rao’s ‘‘reputation.’’ Earlier in the year, the Nanavati Commission issued similar notices to Kamal Nath and Jagdish Tytler, who went on to become ministers in the Manmohan Singh government.

Two more Congress MPs to have received Section 8B notices from the Nanavati Commission are Sajjan Kumar and Nikhil Kumar. The notice to Rao is based on affidavits filed by a host of prominent persons, including, ironically, Ram Vilas Paswan, who is a minister in the Manmohan Singh Government. The others who accused Rao of dereliction included I K Gujral, Ram Jethmalani, Lt Gen J S Aurora and Patwant Singh. They acused Rao, among other things, of intentionally delaying calling in the Army even after they had met him at the beginning of the carnage on November 1, 1984.