On 26th July 2008 Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee appointed an Enquiry Committee to enquire into the complaint made to him in writing on 25 July, 2008 by Shri Ashok Argal, Shri Mahavir Bhagora and Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste, MPs regarding alleged offer of money to them in connection with voting on the Motion of Confidence.
The Committee consisted of the following members :-
1. Shri V. Kishore Chandra S. Deo – Chairman
2. Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra
3. Shri Mohd. Salim
4. Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav
5. Shri Devendra Prasad Yadav
6. Shri Rajesh Verma
7. Shri C. Kuppusami
Today we are told that this committee of enquiry submitted its 476 page report.
While the report is not yet accessible on the Lok Sabha website, the media has carried details from it.
Predictably the report turned out to be an exercise in denial with the UPA and Samajwadi members of parliament giving a clean chit to the actions of their party in government. What is however apalling is not only did the committee members engage in an exercising of self serving jurisprudence but they also had the gall to cast aspersions on the whistleblowers by making it about them.
While the Manmohan Singh UPA dispensation lives on for another few months, it would do well for all right thinking Indians to remember the names of those who adorn the Parliament’s Hall of Shame for their despicable conduct of whitewashing one of the most shameful episodes in our parliamentary democracy.
Offstumped closes this post with a challenge to Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who never loses the opportunity to resort to self righteous moral indignation at the drop of the gavel.
Where sir is your morality today ?
You sir are someone who does not lose the opportunity to remind the parliamentarians on what the nation thinks of their conduct. Well sir where is that consternation today ?
Is this the kind of example you want the Law makers of this nation to set, that when it comes to crimes of their own ilk, they will seek to subterfuge and slander and whitewash the complicity of their comrades.
Offstumped Bottomline: Let us be very clear that this episode will be the yardstick by which Somnath Chatterjee’s legacy as Speaker will be judged. If he gives credibility to this sham of an enquiry and washes his hands off of the Cash-for-Trust-Vote scandal, Mr. Somnath Chatterjee will be deemed as a partner in crime in saving the Manmohan Singh Government and Mr. Somnath Chatterjee will also be deemed as having no better morals than that fixer and broker Amar Singh.
Filed under: CNN-IBN Boycott, Manmohan Confidence Vote, betrayal of aam admi
As much as I hate truth not coming out here, I am more concerned about the utter incompetence and lack of clarity on part of those who decided to rely solely on CNN-IBN which NEVER had any love lost for BJP.
If only 2 channels had been involved, agreement for BJP to keep original and channels to take a copy, and specific time of broadcast had been agreed upon then today would have been a different day.
As much as things were happening rapidly in 2-3 days before that vote, they did not happen in a flash of a second. Even Sudhindra Kulkarni & others had hours to think it through. The worst decision was not to videotape conversations in Amar Singh’s house. Since there were so many journalists outside the house, there could not have been any danger to the life of the MPs inside Amar Singh’s house.
So, as much as we have no sympathy for Mahmud of Ghazni (we have no control over them), it is time to look in the mirror and blame ourselves for being the Prithviraj (as we do have control our ourselves). The world will NEVER be free of those who do not care for what we believe is fair. Our desire & ability to be fair cannot come at the expense of our ability to defend & ensure perpetuity of what we believe is fair.
Dhananjay – that would make it an orchestrated sting not a whistleblowing operation
, their credibility lies in the fact that they did their best as rank amateurs. Amar Singh is going scott free not because the whistleblowing was not professional enough, but because indicting him would mean indicting the UPA Government. So any more professional an operation would have met with a similar fate, perhaps with far greater cynicism for the professionalism and the planning would be explained away as proof of a conspiracy.
HI Yoss:
Well said. However, how is it that having 1 channel involved makes it a “whistleblowing operation” but 2 channels makes it an “orchestrated sting”.
Also, if BJP could have exposed the real conspiracy cooked by Congress & SP, the perception of conspiracy on part of BJP (for getting 2 channels involved) would have faded in no time. This is precisely what I am concerned about. Our focus is on controlling minor collateral damage rather than on nailing the much bigger culprit. Defeat of Kaurava’s ideology was the main objective. Having to kill your own relatives was collateral damage. The same values & principles applies here.
dhananjay – you make my case, if its the “bjp” exposing it, it will also suffer a credibility crisis like this one that they have the gumption to cast aspersions on upright individuals like Mr. Kulkarni. The BJP very well knew this was not going to lead a conviction. Remember the Jharkhand bribery case in which the courts famously ruled that only the House can sit in judgement of member’s actions on the floor of the house and not the courts. There is no way a majority would rule against its own conduct. This exposes the utter lack of Dharma in the way the Constitution vested all power in the Parliament to the detriment of constitutionality itself.
Yoss:
Again well said. At the least, by managing this operation well, BJP would have won the case in the court of people.
As you said, I had no expectation that the parliamentary investigation would have come to a different conclusion that it has.
But then we are also presuming that airing of the tapes at the right time by 2 different channels would not have resulted in the UPA government having to resign. If that had happened, there would have been no question of a report like this one absolving the UPA of any wrongdoing.
Again, the focus of BJP should always be in winning in the court of people (with protecting & enhancing the national interests as it’s prime motivator) until it has power to the extent that it can change the constitution that (as you said) “vested all power in the Parliament to the detriment of constitutionality itself”.
Dhananjay – its abt the court of public opinion but then we are now learning that national issues wane as “distance from delhi” increases so its a commentary on us as a people that lack of ethics in conduct of parliament is also “chalta hai”. Had it not been so the court of public opinion wud have fixed this after jmm bribery case, after office of profit issue, after pratibha patil episode. Hence the need for dharma in the 21st century, maybe in a decade from now we as a people will be far less tolerant of such ethics violations.
Dharma can’t be established without wealth/resources, and wealth/resources can’t be accumulated without power, political power. Thats why Chanakya boldly declared: “Dharmashya mulam artha, arthasya mulam rajya.”
BJP and many other Hindus always talk about dharma, its like hollow quest. This is simply loosers preaching. A man out job, pretend to be a great devotee of Ishwar reciting mantras. Dharma is not merely a word, by reciting the word- dharma dharma dharma…, makes one dharmic.
Congress-UPA retained the power, no matter how adharmic was the act. Now, tons of convictions and allegations will not change the fact that they are ruling the nation. What would have happen, if Amar and Patel are indicted? Would MM SIngh have resigned?
BJP could not kept its own flock, MPs. Whats the good in questioning how others hunted them, purchased them? When we can’t protect our own house, what good blaming others? It is like blaming the thief, why the thief created a hole through the wall and looted my house.
Win the power, and than talk about dharma. That will make sense. Else, keep reciting mantras like a jobless man.
Bharat, extremely well-said.
Lots of advice/recommendations that i have seen on several forums seem so out of sync with reality. they feel more like emotional outbursts because OUR collective ineptitude is there for the whole world to see. The definition of Dharma & it’s means of attainment have to change with times. The way word, Dharma is used on many forums is like it’s a new cool thing which is ‘in’ these days. Tell Dharma to those people who don’t have 2 meals a day & then we say, not everybody feels united & connected together in solidarity for mumbai blasts.
On another forum, i read about that the parliamentary committee has exonerated amar singh & ahmed patel. It also wants more investigation into people like sudhir kulkarni from BJP who helped expose cash for votes scam. So, the tables have been turned & that too within parliamentary means. Congrats Congress for a masterstroke. Lets see if Congress goes on a witchhunt after BJP here.
I would like to see how BJP reacts. If they don’t know how to play the game, then they deserve to stay in opposition. Let country be damned.
BJP along with CPM must calibrate strategy for this scam, and make it Bofors II. The whole nation has watched how barbaric way MM Singh govt mastered majority. This sin should not be allowed to washed away, but pay heavy price like Rajiv Khan fake Gandhi.
Higest level corruption charge will stick more stronger way than even terror issue.
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Dissent notes by BJP, CPM
Dec. 15: Three of the seven-member “cash-for-votes” inquiry committee of the Lok Sabha gave three separate notes expressing views different from the committee report placed in the House on Monday.
They are Mr Vijay Kumar Malhotra (Bharatiya Jananta Party), Mr Mohammed Salim (Communist Party of India-Marxist) and Mr Ram Gopal Yadav (Samajwadi Party).
…..
“The committee should not pass any judgment on this matter and must recommend that the entire matter be probed,” he said.
Later, Mr Salim told reporters that efforts were being made from the beginning to prevent the committee from reaching any conclusion “to save the big fish”.
“From the very beginning, efforts were on that the committee fails to reach the bottom of the matter … The way witnesses were examined, some crucial witnesses were not allowed to come to depose. No effort was made to bring them to depose,” Mr Salim said.
http://www.asianage.com/presentation/leftnavigation/news/india/dissent-notes-by-bjp,-cpm.aspx
[...] a comment » Yesterday, the media ran non stop headlines on the cash-for-votes scam. Some bloggers including Offstumped covered it too. The only interesting thing about this toothpick of a scam is how the BJP hobnobbed [...]
We’re forgetting one of the major scamsters here: Turdesai. This whole episode shows how the “system” can be converted comprehensively when corrupt politicians collude with corrupt “journalists”.
I am not at al surprised at this verdict. I knew it from day one that this query will be a cropper for us, who wish the truth.
Its common sense, that SP being the main support of the CON gress will be protected against all odds.
Bharat, well said. Let BJP preach and practice Dharma when it is in power.
The manipulations of the Kangress party are crossing all limits. Any self-respecting citizen would be outraged at what is happening. But this country has the strange “Chalta Hai” attitude. They neither punish misdeeds not reward good deeds.
Gandhism moved from being “non-voilent mass action” to “no-action” and now its become “not even reaction”.
We need a new Gandhi to awaken this country.
Typo in previous comment
They neither punish misdeeds nor reward good deeds.
PS: I’m hoping that NaMo turns out to be the new Gandhi!
Somnath Chatterjee, elected on a CPI(M) ticket refused to toe the party line. Whether the party line is correct or not, he should have either followed the party line or quit. But he chose not to do either. How can he claim any moral high ground ? He chose to do the bidding of Congress for the sake of his seat as Speaker. Can anybody expect any decision based on principle and morality. He too is just one among the run of the mill politicians who aspire for power and pelf and nothing matters to them.
As for Dharma. This is Kali Yuga where Dharma cannot work. As Arun Shourie said : “That is completely wrong. For an eye, both eyes! For a tooth, the whole jaw! Unless India has that determination and that clarity, we will continue to bleed like this all the time.” Even the Mahabharata war was not fought completely on the basis of Dharma, though at the initial stages the guiding principles were based on Dharma. When Abhimanyu was killed by deceit the Mahabharat war too took a different turn. Even at the killing of Duryodana this is evident. And Lord Krishna was right. For the extermination of adharma one may have to take up cudgel and even resort to adharma to bring about Dharma, the righteousness. The UPA is the fountainhead of all adharmas in this punyabhumi.
Just wondering, the reporter who co-ordinated with the BJP MPs during the sting operation, is he still working for CNN-IBN?
Or has Rajdeep Sardesai sacked him for violating the unwritten code of conduct (of not putting the BJP enemies under any sort of embarrassment)?
Dear Yossarin sir,
As i understand, this whole exercise was done in a reverse order. Firstly it was estd. that govt was to be saved in this vote for confidence. Secondly, they looked for the biggest shameless bastard, who obviously was no other than SP with Amar Singh(an estd name in this trade). Thirdly they (MMs & SG)made it very clear that Mulayam and Amar singh will be saved from any adverse situation, as they are having the state machinery as their disposal be it CBI, any comitte, Supreme court with Balakrishnan who act’s as their stooges all the time. Even when common man sees Rajdeep sardesai as hostile to every thing right, these innocent BJP people relied on such faces, i wonder why they didn’t contacted NDTV crew.
After every thing came out in Black & White the first thing which should have happened was the physical assault on Rajdeep sardesai and his Co. including his office and crew members. But we see no one is concerned in BJP and some time from now you can watch Advanijis’s interview by Rajdeep.
As we see no strong action by any Rightist, so the people dont vote for cowards.
On what basis did the speaker form a committee of MPs to investigate allegations of a crime? Shouldn’t he have directed the govt to undertake a proper investigation by the CBI given the grave nature of the crime? Are our MPs all-in-all? Just because the crime involves the parliament the speaker thinks the investigations can be carried out by MPs? By the same logic will the speaker ask the MPs to carry out commando operations against terrorists if there is a future terrorist attack on the parliament?
Can you believe this Yoss?- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cash-for-vote_Somnath_for_further_probe_against_three/articleshow/3845824.cms
Dear Shaan@19,
I dont understand in which wonderland you are residing. Boss if the investigation is done by CBI or any other govt organisation, the outcome must have been even worst. You must be aware of the result of Bofors scam (old is gold), Nithari cannibalism which involved Pundhir, many other investigation. You take up any case and you will find the outcome similar to that desired by ruling party which in most cases was congress or to be precise, Gandhi Family Pvt. Ltd.
I think the next step by this self righteous speaker will be to punish the three whistleblowers. What should have been done that day all three of these MP’s should have thurst this currency in the mouth of MMS and MADAM SONIA.