Govt will ask Jain panel to provide evidence

The Inder Kumar Gujral government will ask the Milap Chand Jain Commission to substantiate its findings in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

Union Home Minister Indrajit Gupta said the Commission had not submitted any record of evidence to support the findings contained in the interim report.

The decision comes in the wake of the hue and cry over reports that the Commission has indicted the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham in the case.

Claiming that it would be not be difficult to provide evidence as it would be on the Commission's records, the home minister said, ''At least part of the evidence must be submitted to the government.'' In the absence of evidence, the people and the government have no way of finding out if the findings are ''prejudiced'', he added.

The government, however, would not delay tabling the report in Parliament on account of this. The findings, along with the ''action taken'' report, would be tabled on the first day of the winter session beginning on November 19, Gupta said.

Ruling out any legal hurdles in tabling the report, he denied that the report cannot be made public because of the Madras trial court's decision to reserve its order in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case till January 1998. Legal experts have told the Centre that the trial court cannot take cognisance of the Commission's findings, he said.

A lot, however, depends on the political parties's stand. ''We have to see whether some of them would prefer a delay,'' he said.

Though Gupta said the government will try to obtain the evidence before tabling the report, he declined to answer queries on whether the ''action taken'' report could be drawn up without the same.

The home minister denied that any official inquiry had been ordered into the alleged leakage of the interim report to the media.

Justice Jain, however, declined to comment on Gupta's statement regarding evidence in the case.

Meanwhile, Congress vice-president Jitendra Prasada today warned Gupta of serious consequences if the UF delays tabling the Commission's findings.

''Any attempt to delay tabling the report would be at the government's peril,'' he warned.

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