The Times of India 9 Feb 2008 P 11 Delhi
A stop over in London in October 2005 could well become a headache for law minister H R Bharadwaj. It is undisputable that he was returning to India from Ghana after attending the Commonwealth Law Ministers meeting (October 17-20). But, what did he do in London as India’s law minister is shrouded in mystery.
A stop over in London in October 2005 could well become a headache for law minister H R Bharadwaj. It is undisputable that he was returning to India from Ghana after attending the Commonwealth Law Ministers meeting (October 17-20). But, what did he do in London as India’s law minister is shrouded in mystery.
An application under the Right to Information Act has brought this out withcompletely different versions of official business the minister carried out in London during his three-day stop over.
On November 5, 2007, the government told RTI applicant Dev Ashish Bhattacharya that Bharadwaj took an overview of the pending arbitrational proceedings involving government of India in London. “On his return journey, the minister also visited London to have discussions with counsels/solicitors engaged by the government of India to represent/defend Union of India in various arbitration cases pending before Arbitrators in London,” said the government.
Bhattacharya was curious to elicit more information and appealed against the scanty information relating to the minister’s visit to London. He appealed seeking more information not being satisfied with the first dose. The second version of the purpose behind the London visit, supplied to Bhattacharya on January 2 this year, read: “On his return journey from Ghana, the minister of law and justice along with law secretary visited UK (London) during October 22-24, 2005 to discuss the issues relating to legal profession of both countries on an invitation from the chairman of the Bar Council of England.” The conflicting versions are intriguing enough.
But what is even more curious is that the minister’s London visit is tantalisingly close to the decision of UK authorities to de-freeze the accounts of Bofors accused Ottavio Quattrocchi in January 2006. That followed a visit by law officer Bhagwan Datta who told the Crown Prosecution Service that there was no case against Quattrocchi.
The differing versions have been brought to the notice of the appellate RTI authority in the Department of Legal Affairs, which has passed an order asking concerned officials to recheck/reconcile the information given about the purpose of Bharadwaj’s London visit in October 2005. The authorities have to do quite a job to reconcile the two versions of purposes for which the law minister visited London.
With Thanks from the Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd.
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