Oil For Food Scandal Reaches India

The scandal that was the UN Oil-for-Food program in Iraq unraveled a bit further today with the charging of two Indian politicians with criminal activities.

NEW DELHI: The Justice Pathak Committee on Thursday indicted former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh and his MLA son Jagat Singh for procurement of contracts in the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq during Saddam Hussain's regime but no money has been traced to them.

Justice R S Pathak, who headed the one-man inquiry authority, handed over the copy of the 110-page report, including 22 pages of annexures, on Thursday to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The authority is believed to have exonerated the Congress of all charges of being a non-contractual beneficiary in the scam in 2001.

Andaleeb Sehgal, a friend of Jagat Singh, and Aditya Khanna, a relative of Natwar Singh, are understood to have received financial payoffs in the deal by getting oil coupons based on the letters of recommendation given by Natwar Singh.

This still has not been pursued vigorously enough, but it's at least a hopeful sign that some more of the perpetrators of this massive scam are being caught and punished.