July 21: Former Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has said that he has candidly responded to most of the topics he was asked on by the parliamentary probe committee.    
The Parliamentary Investigation Special Committee formed by the House of Representatives had questioned former Finance Minister Sharma regarding his alleged involvement in bringing unauthorized persons into the finance ministry in course of finalizing the budget for the current fiscal year.    
Sharma said he gave clear answers to the queries put by the committee. "I have replied to each and every question they asked," the former Finance Minister said after attending the Parliamentary committee's meeting today (July 21).    
During the meeting, Sharma asserted that no unauthorized person was brought in and no illegal work has been done in course of preparing the budget. He argued that he himself in the capacity of finance minister had changed the rate of tax and no unauthorized person was involved in it.    
Stating that the charge labeled against him is baseless, former Finance Minister Sharma said that he decided upon the budget by remaining within the due process, laws and procedures.
Following widespread criticism from all sides, the House of Representatives on July 6 constituted an 11-member parliamentary investigation committee. Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota has given 10 days to the parliamentary investigation committee to carry out its works and submit a report. -- RSS    
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