NEW DELHI: The Manmohan Singh Government and the Congress on Thursday got their act together on the controversial Volcker Committee report on oil-for-food contracts in Iraq. While the government announced that it would "go to the root" of the matter, the Congress said it would send legal notice to the parties concerned.

With the Bharatiya Janata Party stepping up its offensive demanding the removal of External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh from the Cabinet, the Government said it was "deeply concerned" about the unverified references made in the report to the Congress and to him.

It said the report, as it stood on the day, was insufficient to arrive at any adverse or definite conclusion. "Therefore, the Government is determined to go to the root of the matter and establish the truth or otherwise of these references. The matter is under serious consideration of the Government and a decision will be announced shortly," said a statement from the Prime Minister's Office.

The Congress, expressing shock at its being referred to as a "non-contractual beneficiary" in the report, decided to issue a "comprehensive legal notice" to the parties concerned including the United Nations and the Volcker Committee, demanding "full disclosure of the material" on the basis of which the panel reached the "unverified conclusion."

"Failing disclosure of the relevant material, the Congress demands an unconditional apology for wrongly and maliciously making a reference to it," a party release said.

The party reiterated the statements made by its spokesman on October 29 and said it unequivocally and categorically denied any knowledge of or connection with any oil-for-food contract.

"The Congress Party had no dealings whatsoever in this connection with the Government of Iraq or any of its agencies nor any other company or individual," it stated.

The government statement came after Mr. Natwar Singh had a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the second after the contents of the report were published.

Prior to it, the Core Committee, including Dr. Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her political secretary Ahmed Patel and Union Minister Pranab Mukherjee met here. This issue figured at the meeting.

Probe in the offing

Some senior party leaders later hinted that some kind of inquiry was in the offing although its exact nature was yet to be determined.

The decision on the "inquiry" was left to the government. Informed sources said a committee comprising three Ministers — Pranab Mukherjee, Shivraj Patil and P. Chidambaram — was likely to be asked to get to the root of the issue.

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