SC stays ED proceedings against Natwar, son

In a major reprieve for former external affairs minister Natwar Singh and his son, Jagat Singh...

In a major reprieve for former external affairs minister Natwar Singh and his son, Jagat Singh, seeking access to all existing records in the ongoing probe in the multi-million dollar Iraqi oil-for-food scam, the Supreme Court on Monday stayed the proceedings against them by the Enforcement Directorate till further orders. Assailing the Delhi High Court judgment which dismissed their “insistence for disclosure of all documents” and investigations by ED, the duo had appealed before the Bench of Justices B N Agarwal and G S Singhvi.

The ED had in September 2006 issued show-cause notices to Natwar, his son and four others for alleged violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act in connection with the scam.

Hearing brief submissions by senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for them, the Bench issued notices to the Union Government and the ED seeking replies on the appeals. The advocate argued that the ED was not conducting free and fair investigation in the case and documents that were in favour of the petitioners and establish their innocence were being overlooked and used selectively. Besides, the entire investigation was politically motivated and the duo is being framed, contended Salve.

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Challenging the on-going investigation by the ED, Singhs have claimed that no show-cause notice was ever issued to them and therefore, the investigation should be stayed till the final disposal of their petitions. The Court acting on the plea also ordered proceedings being carried against them by the ED be stayed till further orders. The ED was to examine them on Tuesday.

In March 2008, the High Court Division Bench, led by Justice T S Thakur, refused to interfere with the ED’s decision to issue show-cause notice and start an inquiry against the duo. It had said, “The adjudicating authority had applied its mind to the material placed before it and come to a prima facie conclusion that an inquiry under Section 13 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) is warranted.”

The court had then observed that “enough material” to be relied upon by the ED had already been sent to the Singhs with the show-cause notice. According to the ED sources, over 1,000 pages of documents have already been supplied to them with the show-cause notice issued on September 2, 2006. The ED officials are probing Natwar Singh’s alleged involvement in the scam, as brought out by the Justice R S Pathak Committee.