Thursday, March 23 2006 15:40 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: In the midst of speculation over the Government bringing an ordinance on the office of profit issue, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (Mar 23 2006) held a meeting with Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister Shivraj Patil for about 45 minutes after the deliberations of various Cabinet bodies.

After meetings of Cabinet, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), Singh went into a huddle with Mukherjee and Patil and both the ministers declined to talk to the waiting media at South Block here.

The CCS meeting, which followed those of Cabinet and CCEA, was held for about an hour chaired by the Prime Minister and attended by Mukherjee, Patil and Finance Minister P Chidambaram.

The Defence Minister, who normally briefs the media on decisions taken by the CCS, drove off without any comments.

Mukherjee and Patil later met Congress President Sonia Gandhi at her residence.