Thursday, July 21 2005 13:26 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Giving in to the demands of the Left parties, ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament, the Government has asked the CBI to probe the alleged informities in the privatisation of state-run Centaur Hotels by the previous NDA regime in 2002.

The Finance Ministry has sent a note to the CBI, asking it to probe the multi-crore deal that was reached when Arun Shourie was Disinvestment Minister and which came under attack from the then opposition Congress and Left parties.

Shourie, who has steadfastly defended the deal as a fair one, today (July 21, 2005) said he was prepared to face CBI officers at home or anywhere they wished to question him on this issue.

The file for CBI probe was cleared by Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram last week, sources said.

The decision assumes importance in the wake of the Left parties, which prop up the ruling coalition, taking a hard-line stand against disinvestments, including BHEL, ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament commencing on Monday (july 25, 2005).

Reacting to reports that the Government had referred the Centaur privatisation issue to CBI, Shourie said he stood by his earlier commitment that, "I will cooperate with every inquiry and agency, which the Government chooses."

"I will go to any office at any time the CBI designates," the former Disinvestment Minister said.