Cong dumps Kalmadi over permission to attend Parl

Congress on Saturday steered clear of the issue of permission to jailed MPs to attend Monsoon session of Parliament beginning Monday.

"Such matters are entirely between the applicant detainee and the court. There cannot be a general policy approach. It depends upon the individual merits of each case," party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters here.

He said that neither any political party has any role nor Parliament or Assembly system has any role in such cases. Congress MP Suresh Kalmadi, jailed in the multi-crore Commonwealth Games preparations scam, has moved the Delhi High Court for permission to attend Parliament.

Kalmadi has cited the cases of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, former Bihar MP Pappu Yadav and Jharkand MP Madhu Koda who were allowed to attend Parliamentary sessions under judicial custody.

Besides Kalmadi, other MPs at present lodged in Tihar jail are former Telecom Minister A Raja and DMK member Kanimozhi. The two are accused in the 2G spectrum scam.