NEW DELHI: For all his assertions that the Volcker Committee report contains unsubstantiated references against Natwar Singh and the Congress, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seems to have played it safe when it came to instituting an inquiry by a former Chief Justice of India. From its carefully worded statement announcing the name of Justice R. S. Pathak, the government appears to be contemplating an executive inquiry rather than risking a more rigorous probe under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952.

Justice Pathak, who will turn 81 on Nov 25, carries a similar impression. He told TOI on Tuesday: “It is not intended to be under the Commissions of Inquiry Act.” If the terms of reference, due to be notified any day, steer clear of the Act, it could well be to avert a bigger embarrassment not only to Natwar Singh but also to the Congress. Key reasons why the Manmohan Singh government would find it safer to appoint an executive inquiry instead of a commission of inquiry: The appointment of a commission would require the government to acknowledge in its terms of reference that the Volcker report findings constitute, in the language of the law, a definite matter of public importance.

This would fly in the face of its attempt to downplay them as unsubstantiated. While an executive inquiry typically conducts its proceedings in-camera, a commission of inquiry does its work in an open court. If a commission denies access to the public to any part of the inquiry, the judge bears the onus of explaining his departure from the norm. Since the Congress has been named by the Volcker report as one of the non-contractual beneficiaries of the oil scam, a commission will have no option but to issue a notice to its president, Sonia Gandhi, under Section 8B of the Act.

Sonia, or any leader authorised by her, will have to give written defence on whatever evidence is gathered against the Congress from the UN or other sources. A commission’s report is statutorily required to be tabled in Parliament within six months of its submission. The government will also have to table an action taken report along with it. In the case of a report from an executive inquiry, the government has the discretion to make the report public or keep it secret, depending on its convenience. Railway minister Lalu Prasad’s zeal to publish the Justice UC Banerjee Committee’s report on the Godhra episode is a case in point.

—By arrangement with The Times of India