New Delhi: Dismissing suggestions that the Walmart lobbying issue has brought under a cloud the vote on FDI in Parliament, Congress on Tuesday said the government is the "best judge" to decide what type of inquiry is needed on the controversy.
"Not at all. These are all baseless allegations. FDI is in the interest of the country....Government is the best judge (to decide on what kind of inquiry is needed)," party spokesman Rashid Alvi told reporters here.
Noting that the probe should help find out the factual position as early as possible, he said that a lot of thought needed to be given on the kind of inquiry as there are aspects related to foreign countries where the Indian law does not apply.
He was asked a volley of questions at the AICC briefing including whether the vote on FDI in multi-brand retail in Parliament has come under cloud following surfacing of the lobbying issue.
Remarks of the Congress spokesman came close on the heels of the Opposition demand for instituting a Joint Parliamentary Committee or a time-bound judicial inquiry into the Walmart lobbying issue that rocked Parliament for the second consecutive day today.
Insisting that the money spent by Walmart was on lobbying in the US and not in India, he said that the decision taken to allow FDI in retail in the country was "government's own decision" and that it was not taken under pressure from anybody and nor was it a result of lobbying.
"We take our own decisions and the lobbying by anyone does not have any impact," he said. The debate on the FDI in retail issue was on in the country for the past ten years, he said, adding that Walmart has denied that it has spent any money in India in connection with FDI.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, December 11, 2012, 20:47