Manmohan's defence of RBI Governor not fair: Sandeep Dikshit

Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit on Friday said it was 'unfair on the part of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to defend RBI Governor Urjit Patel during the latter's grilling by a parliamentary committee on demonetisation.

Manmohan Singh, a member of the Standing Committee on Finance, came to the rescue of Patel by suggesting to him not to answer Congress leader Digvijay Singh's query on whether there could be chaos if the existing restrictions on cash withdrawals are removed.

Patel appeared before the Committee on January 18 to answer questions on the Narendra Modi government's November 8 move to demonetise Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes.

"I respect him (Manmohan Singh) very highly, but I believe what he did was not fair," Dikshit, a former member of Parliament, said.

Dikshit, son of former Delhi Chief minister Sheila Dikshit, said it was imperative that MPs exercised their right to question so as to maintain accountability of institutions.

"MPs have the right to ask questions. If we do not trust our legislators with the right to ask questions and trust them with the knowledge from such answers, then who do we trust? How do we maintain accountability of the institutions?" Dikshit told News18 channel.

"Institutions that are not accountable lose both their credibility and their honesty. There are specific rules for the conduct and deliberation of these committees," he added.

--IANS

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