In his report, submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this evening, Pathak said no money was traced to the father-son duo but their kin Aditya Khanna and Jagat’s friend, Andaleeb Sehgal, received commissions from foreign companies in exchange for oil coupons given by the Saddam Hussein regime in 2001.

Justice Pathak was appointed the inquiry authority in November last year to probe into allegations that Singh and the Congress party were non-contractual beneficiaries of kickbacks resulting from sale of oil coupons gifted by the Iraqi government. The allegations were contained in the report of the Volcker Committee to the UN.

The Pathak report, which went through reports of the Enforcement Directorate and the immigration department on the travels of Singhs, Andaleeb and Khanna, concluded:

• Natwar Singh and Jagat “misused” their position

• Andaleeb and Khanna received money in two transactions in two banks, one based in the UK

• Natwar wrote three letters to the Iraqi “oil man” introducing Andaleeb

• Andaleeb and Khanna travelled to UK and places in the Middle East

• No money transaction showed up in the Congress bank account

Reacting to the findings of the report, the BJP questioned the probe panel’s decision to exonerate Congress, wondering as to how the ruling party could be given a clean chit in a matter which indicted one of its leaders. BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad asked, “On what basis was a carte-blanche given that Congress had no role to play?”

The CPM and CPI, which support the UPA coalition, declined immediate comment, saying they would do so after “studying the report”.

The report, which dwelt less on the Congress, has given extensive “evidence” on the Singhs, Andaleeb and Khanna. Senior counel T R Andhiyarijuna and Raju Ramachandran who acted as the “commission’s counsel” said: “We led with the evidence from various sources obtained by the commission”.

Sources said: “the telephone conversation transcript between Andaleeb and Khanna were also submitted as evidence”. Andaleeb and Khanna, sources said, were in regular touch with “two persons” in the Middle East, one an Indian and the other from “that region”. The “money link” could be traced only to “these two persons” as of now, they pointed out.

What Volcker said

• Volcker named Natwar and Congress as “non-contractual beneficiaries’’ of Iraqi oil sales in 2001

• According to Volcker, Natwar was in category of individuals who either sold or gave their rights to buy oil from Saddam’s Iraq to oil companies. In his case, it was allegedly to Switzerland-based Masefield AG

• Natwar, Volcker said, had rights for four million barrels of oil, of which 1.9 million barrels were lifted by Masefield. The Congress also allegedly had rights for four million barrels. Only one million barrels were lifted in one go, again by Masefield AG, said Volcker