India law minister in graft scandal

The head of India's Press Council is seeking an investigation into a scandal involving a senior Cabinet minister accused by a television station of stealing funds meant to help the disabled.

Law Minister Salman Khurshid has been accused by popular Hindi-language TV station Aaj Tak and anti-corruption activists of embezzling more than US$134,000 through a trust that he and his wife run to help disabled people.

The money had been given by the government to the non-governmental organisation (NGO) to buy equipment such as hearing aids, cycles and crutches.

The allegations bring fresh embarrassment for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose coalition has been struggling with corruption charges since its re-election in 2009.

Khurshid and his wife have denied any wrongdoing. The TV station has stood by its story, prompting the head of India's Press Council to seek an investigation by the National Broadcasting Standard Association (NBSA).

"I request you to hold an inquiry into the matter and make your findings public so whoever is innocent is exonerated and whoever is guilty exposed," Press Council chairman Markandey Katju wrote to NBSA head J.S. Verma.

Meanwhile, raids were conducted on Monday at disabled welfare offices across the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where Khurshid's NGO operates.

The latest scandal, analysts say, could distract the government's attempts to revive a flagging economy. Over the past month, the coalition had appeared to shake off two years of policy paralysis with a slew of high-profile economic reforms to open the retail, pensions and insurance sectors.

The allegations against Khurshid, 59, come within days of another claim by anti-corruption activists that the son-in-law of Mrs Sonia Gandhi, who heads the ruling Congress party, was involved in corrupt property deals.

"All this is bringing the whole issue of corruption back to the forefront, which can only be bad for the government," said Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, a political commentator in New Delhi.

The government has defended Khurshid, rejecting opposition calls for his resignation.

The Oxford-educated Khurshid is among a handful of suave ministers from the Congress party with a clean image. Over the past year, he was often roped in to defend the government against corruption charges.

Last week, the Aaj Tak news channel alleged that Khurshid's NGO, the Zakir Hussain Memorial Trust, had forged signatures of government officials and procuded a fake court affidavit, and made up non-existent camps to help the disabled.

Since then, anti-corruption campaigners have produced lists with names of alleged fictitious beneficiaries. Some of the people named as beneficiaries either have died or did not have any disability, the activists said.

An angry Khurshid told a press conference at the weekend that "not a word (of the charges) can be proved".

"They (the channel and campaigners) can scream, scream and scream till they turn blue in their face," he said.