If PM is an honest man, he should be ready to face probe: Anna

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s remarks that he will quit public life if corruption allegations against him by Team Anna are proved triggered a fresh round of sparring today with the activists insisting on an independent probe, a demand rejected by the government.
“If the Prime Minister is an honest man, then he should be ready to face a probe. Inquiry into charges against him should be headed by a former judge,” Anna Hazare told a TV channel.
However, Hazare said he always saw the Prime Minister as a non-corrupt personality, a view echoed by another Team Anna member Justice Santosh Hegde who noted that it is “extremely difficult” to believe that allegations against Singh could exist but said an inquiry can be held if there are documents to suggest any wrongdoing.
Hazare said he needed needed more time to study allegations levelled against the Prime Minister by his team.
Another Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal said it was not they who came up with the charges but it was in the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on coal bloc allocations.
“We will be most happy if the allegations levelled against the Prime Minister are found to be false. But how will it be proved? For that we need to have an independent investigating agency to probe it,” he told reporters.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid ruled out setting up a Special Investigation Team of retired judges as demanded by Team Anna. “We are not going to cowdown,” he said.
“I don’t think we can have for anybody, forget about ministers and certainly Prime Minister, media trials. We can’t have street trials. We are in the country where rule of law prevails,” he said.
Team Anna said Khurshid’s reaction was like the accused himself ruling out the investigation.
Stepping up attack on Team Anna, Congress also dared it go to police and court instead of making allegations through media.