NEW DELHI, JULY 27: Former Union Law Minister Ram Jethmalani did today what he promised yesterday. Less than an hour after Rajya Sabha chairman Krishna Kant asked him to delete the ``defamatory'' references in his statement, Jethmalani withdrew his statement from the Upper House and held a press conference at his residence.Here, he distributed copies of his 17-page statement and levelled a host of charges against Chief Justice of India Justice A S Anand and Attorney General Soli Sorabjee.Claiming that the Chief Justice and the AG were responsible for his exit from the Government, he criticised Prime Minister A B Vajpayee for allowing himself to be ``manipulated'' by them and ignoring his (Jethmalani's) views.He, however, took care not to make public the long list of annexures - some reportedly confidential - the tabling of which became a matter of debate in the Rajya Sabha.``It's surprising that the government took a stand which prevented me from tabling my correspondence with the CJI and AG when only three days back, it introduced the Freedom of Information Bill in Parliament,'' he said, referring to Law Minister Arun Jaitley's statement that some of the dcouments annexed by him were confidential and couldn't be tabled.He was equally dismissive of demands by the Opposition that he be prosecuted for violating the Official Secrets Act and his oath as a cabinet minister. ``Let them try and prosecute me,'' he challenged, adding, ``I don't subscribe to the Official Secrets Act which was framed in the colonial era.these are all tactics to hoodwink the people from the real issues.''Though he spared the Prime Minister, he did make it a point to state that he never gave him a proper audience. ``I never met him even over a cup of tea even though I asked him that I had several urgent matterss to discuss.I wrote to him that I was a loner in his Cabinet.''Referring to the allegations against the CJI's family regarding a land deal, Jethmalani said that he first came to know about them in the magazine called `Kalchakra.' ``The story, if true, showed how the subordinate judiciary had decreed in favour of Dr Anand's wife and mother-in-law, a suit which had been barred by limitation for two decades. I made my own inquiries and came to know that this matter had come to the notice of the famous committee on Judicial Accountability.The documents in possession of this committee did not provide conclusive proof of Dr Anand's personal complicity in the highly questionable action of his family, the Madhya Pradesh Government and the hapless judiciary. The facts, however, were questionable. I did what I could to persuade the committee not to rake up this matter,'' he said.The former minister said that he met the Chief Justice on July 17 after he received a query from the President on the Kalchakra story and had requested him to ``send me a typed sheet containing his version of the facts.'' ``I don't know what transpired in the mind of Dr Anand.This is an important element in the background of what transpired in court only two, three days later,'' Jethmalani said, referring to the Supreme Court's stinging observations on the government during the Srikrishna report hearing and which led to Jethmalani's resignation. He also claimed that his differences with the Chief Justice over the appointment and swearing in of former Patna High Court chief Justice B M Lal as MRTP chairman was another reason which could have ``offended his Lordship's dignity.'' The Chief Justice, according to Jethmalani, took umbrage to the appointment of Lal without consulting him and had therefore turned down his request to swear him in as MRTP chairman. Jethmalani stuck to his stand and insisted that as per the rules, he was not required to consult the chief justice on the appointment of a retired judge.Listing his ``grievances'' against Sorabjee, he said that the Attorney General had a ``lot of explaining to do'' on how he decided to tender a legal opinion to the Hindujas, which is an accused in the Bofors case. ``If his conduct which should have caused his dismissal is tolerated (by the government), for a Minister, resignation is his only option,'' he said.The former Law Minister - he states that ``I sadly concluded that I could not coexist with him (Sorabjee) in the same dispensation'' - he also charged Sorabjee with wrongly taking fees from the goverment while advising it the telecom deal.`PM should explain'In the Lok Sabha, the Opposition demanded that the Prime Minister come to the House to explain the Jethmalani affair:* Government should ascertain whether files have been stolen or their photocopies were made by Jethmalani: Hansraj Bharadwaj (Congres)* The Government shall inquire into the leakage of the documents and consequences thereof: Law Minister Arun Jaitley* Allegations against the Chief Justice of India and the Attorney General are unparalleled in the history of Parliamentary democracy: S Jaipal Reddy (Congress)* Prime Minister is directly accountable for the happenings during the past three days. A confrontation is brewing between the executive and the judiciary: Madhavrao Scindia (Congress)* Jethmalani's act is a criminal offence: Pranab Mukherjee (Congress)
