New Delhi: Rajya Sabha Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat on Thursday turned down as ''not admissible'' a notice by former external affairs minister Natwar Singh seeking permission to raise a "matter of breach of privilege of the House".
The notice, dated August 4, had contended that "within a few minutes" of the Pathak Authority Report being submitted to the Prime Minister it was leaked to the media.
The report contained the findings of the panel's probe into the linkages of the Congress and other political personages with the Iraqi Oil-for-Food scam as alleged in the Volcker Report.
Shekhawat said Natwar’s notice stated that the report had not been shown to him nor a copy of it was laid on the Table of the Rajya Sabha.
The suspended Congressman had, therefore, requested permission under Rule 188 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Upper House to be allowed to raise ''this matter of breach of privilege of the House''.
It may not have signalled the end of the 'war' on the part of discredited former external affairs minister, who had fulminated against Manmohan Singh on the Justice Pathak Authority report, but the two leaders exchanged salutations in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
Natwar, who had given vent to his pent-up anger against the Congress leadership for having suspended him in the Iraqi oil-for-food scam, rose from his front row seat, and went to the Table and presented a piece of paper to Rajya Sabha Secretary General Yogendra Narain.
While coming back to the seat, he offered his salutation to the Prime Minister, who was sitting along with Parliamentary Affairs and I&B Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, and the Prime Minister responded in a spontaneous salutation to him.
While Manmohan Singh attended the entire Question Hour, Mr Natwar Singh had come around 1145 hrs.
The former External Affairs Minister, whose active association with the Congress is over two decades old, was suspended by the party's Disciplinary Action Committee on Tuesday in the wake of the Justice Pathak Authority indicting him for taking advantage of his position in the oil-for-food scam.
On Wednesday, Mr Natwar Singh had vented his spleen against Dr Manmohan Singh for not defending him on the issue, describing him as the ''spineless PM''.
Earlier, the Opposition had demanded that the Prime Minister, who was sitting in the House, make a statement on the 'Natwar episode'.
However, Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat ruled that the issue would be taken up only after Question Hour. Soon after the Question Hour, Manmohan Singh, however, left the House.
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