Tehelka: Opp smells blood, Govt goes to CJ for new name

It left the Government with no alternative but to search for ways of weathering the anticipated storm. Till late in the evening, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was huddled in a meeting with his kitchen cabinet consisting of Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, Defence Minister George Fernandes, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan, Law Minister Jana Krishnamurthy, Sorabjee and former Law Minister and BJP spokesman Arun Jaitley.

On the agenda was a crucial decision on the fate of the Tehelka Commission which in turn would determine the fate of the ongoing winter session. The Government faced two choices. It could continue with the Tehelka inquiry panel under a new chairman or wind it up and agree to a JPC probe. It has settled for the former.

Opposition leaders made it clear that they wanted answers from the Government on what the Tehelka panel had revealed after more than one year of hearings.

They were clearly suspicious of the Government’s intentions and felt that by dragging the CJ into the controversy, the Government was actually seeking an excuse to wind up the Tehelka commission. Highly-placed sources in the ruling coalition indicated that the panel may be disbanded if the CJ refused to forward a name in view of the ongoing controversy over Venkataswami’s dual appointment on the recommendation of former Chief Justice S P Bharucha.

Congress leader Kapil Sibal argued there was no need for the Government to consult the CJ for a new name. He said Venkataswami was a retired judge and there was no provision in the Commission of Inquiries Act that required the Government to seek the CJ’s advice to appoint a retired judge.

He recalled that this distinction had been clearly made by former Law Minister Ram Jethmalani in this Government when his appointment of a retired judge to a quasi-judicial tribunal was questioned by the then Chief Justice, A S Anand. Jethmalani contended that the Government did not need the permission of the CJ to choose a retired judge. ‘‘So why is the Government choosing to consult the Chief Justice now?’’ he asked.

Congress leaders could not contain their glee at being handed an opportunity to rake up the arms scandal again. The party was reluctant to pillory the Government with the communal plank, fearing it would adversely affect its fortunes in next month’s elections in Gujarat. In fact, it had reconciled itself to a relatively tame session of Parliament. ‘‘Now we can put the Government in the dock over Tehelka. It would prove more useful to raise a corruption charge against the BJP than the communal one,’’ confessed a Congress leader.

The uppermost concern in the Government’s mind appeared to be to somehow defuse the situation and put the lid on the Tehelka controversy. A section felt that the Government could even accept a JPC probe, if it helped to silence the Opposition, as the NDA had enough numbers to dominate the JPC. In fact, the BJP’s parliamentary spokesman, V K Malhotra, had told correspondents this evening: ‘‘I cannot understand why the Opposition is asking for a JPC. The NDA will have a majority there and they will not be able to carry out their wishes.’’

Today NDA partners are like a flock of lambs. Last year, when the Tehelka scandal broke, NDA allies, particularly Mamata Banerjee, had joined hands with the Opposition to put the Govt in a spot.