Natwar Singh suspended from primary membership of Congress
The decision to suspend the 75-year-old Singh was taken after a 90-minute meeting of Congress Disciplinary Action Committee and announced by Defence Ministrer Pranab Mukherjee, one of the members of the committee.
The decision came a day after the report of the Pathak Inquiry Authority was placed in Parliament along with the report of the govern ment which accepted all th e findings of the Authority.
Mukherjee told reporters that as leader of the Congress delegation to Iraq in 2001, Natwar Singh "expanded the list of delegates to include his son Jagat Singh and cousin Andleeb Sehgal without any authority from the Congress President or even without her knowledge".
"Natwar Singh has also been indulging in and carrying on a propaganda against Congress party bringing it disrepute," he said. On these grounds, Natwar Singh has been suspended from primary membership of the party and a show cause notice would be issued to him "shortly" asking him why he should not be expelled from Congress, the Defence Minister said.
Natwar Singh had yesterday filed a breach of privilege notice against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in connection with the leakage of the content of Justice Pathak`s report to the media even before it could be placed in Parliament. Mukherjee dismissed as "hypothetical" a question whether the action against Natwar Singh would be reconsidered if he apologizes.
The Defence Minister, who was flanked by DAC Chairman A K Antony and the Committee members Motilal Vora and Sushil Kumar Shinde, said Congress would give the former External Affairs Minister the show cause notice "shortly" and copies of it to the media after a "reasonable time".
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