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Alleged Land and mining scams
Gowda expands ministry, Reddy brothers kept out
Sheila, PMO not indicted by CAG, says government
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Delhi CM didn’t favour foreign streetlight firm
Parliament to discuss Maken’s statement today
Lokpal Bill goes to Standing Committee
UP House adjourned twice
Probe ordered into Kerala CM’s role in palmolein case
Coast Guard: Oil spill has decreased
The oil-covered shores of the Juhu beach in Mumbai. The authorities worked to clean up the oil spill from a cargo ship that sank off the shores last week. — AFP
HC notice to Telangana leaders over protests
SC admits appeals against Ayodhya judgment
SC rejects plea against Maya
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More trouble for Yeddyurappa
Lokayukta Special Court orders former Karnataka CM, 14 others to appear before it on August 27
Bangalore, August 8
The court order came on a private complaint filed by an advocate Sirajin Basha who had alleged that Yeddyurappa had indulged in irregularities in denotification of lands acquired by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA). Dealing yet another blow to Yeddyurappa, the special court also directed the Lokayukta Superintendent of Police to probe the charge that an educational trust run by his family in Shimoga had received Rs 10 crore as donation from a mining firm. The same court also issued summons to JDS leader H D Kumaraswamy, his wife Anita and a mining firm on a private complaint accusing him of recommending renewal of a mining lease within two hours to Jentakal Mining Company and also allotting land to a private housing cooperative society for "personal gains". Kumaraswamy, who was the chief minister from February 2006 to October 2007, and two others have been asked to appear before the court on August 30. In another case in the special Lokayukta court, the court rejected the bail pleas of former minister Katta Subramanya Naidu, his son and another accused in connection with Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board land scam and irregularities in securing compensation for those whose lands were acquired. The court remanded the accused--Naidu, his Bangalore city corporator son Jagadish and the ITASKA Software company MD Srinivas, in judicial custody till August 22. In the complaint filed against Yeddyurappa, Basha had alleged that he denotified 2.5 acres in Arakere village, 1.7 acres in Devarachikkanahalli in Bangalore South taluk and 1.21 acres in Gedalahalli village in Bangalore East taluk violating rules. In another development, a Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court comprising justices K L Manjunath and Kempanna directed Yeddyurappa to produce a copy of the Lokayukta report on illegal mining on his petition seeking to quash the findings that had indicted him. The court adjourned the hearing to August 10. — PTI
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Gowda expands ministry, Reddy brothers kept out
Bangalore, August 8 Twentyone MLAs were sworn in as ministers in
the Sadananda Gowda-led Cabinet. The troubles of former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa following his indictment by Lokayukta in its report on illegal mining, however, failed to cast a shadow on the gaiety which marked the oath ceremony organised at the Raj Bhavan today at a very short notice. Sadananda Gowda took oath as Chief Minister at a function that was boycotted by the dissident MLAs. Ministry formation in Karnataka was held up because of intense factionalism in the ruling BJP. However, the MLAs who took oath included prominent dissident leaders
like Jagadish Shettar, R Ashoka and S A Ramdas - an indication that the dissidents have buried the hatchet for now. The Reddy brothers - Janardhana and Karunakara and their associate Sriramulu - were left out from the Cabinet in view of their indictment by the Lokayukta in his report on illegal mining. The Reddys and Sriramulu did not attend the swearing in ceremony. V Somanna, who too was named in the Lokayukta’s report on illegal mining, however, was sworn as a minister. Other Yeddyurappa confidants like Shobha Karandlaje, Basavraj Bommai, Murugesh Nirani, M P Renukacharya, etc, also took oath as ministers. Twelve out of the 21 legislators inducted as ministers are from the Yeddyurappa camp. Others are from the Ananth Kumar camp —the Eshrawappa-Shettar group. All the MLAs sworn in as ministers were ministers in the Yeddyurappa-led previous BJP cabinet. Loyalists of Yeddyurappa sworn in will retain their portfolios. Members from the dissident camp are expected to get some of the important portfolios that were being held by Yeddyurappa, the two Reddys and Sriramulu. Twelve vacancies of ministers remained to be filled. The CM is likely to use these vacancies judiciously to keep the MLAs in check.
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Sheila, PMO not indicted by CAG, says government
New Delhi, August 8 The government fielded Union ministers Ambika Soni, Kapil Sibal and Salman Khursheed to reject the BJP demand for Dikshit’s resignation while Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari stated that CAG had overstepped its brief by questioning the government’s policy and appointment choices. “Does the CAG have the remit to comment on an appointment process or policy choices government makes or does not make,” Tewari asked, clearly referring to CAG’s comments on Suresh Kalmadi’s appointment as Organising Committee chief by the PMO which resulted in large-scale wasteful expenditure during the Commonwealth Games. The three ministers steadfastly maintained that it was absolutely wrong to say that the PMO and Sheila Dikshit had been indicted. “There is no indictment....there is only a reference...it’s a statement of facts,” Sibal underlined even as the opposition moved a privilege motion against Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Ajay Maken for his misleading statement in which he blamed the NDA government for Kalmadi’s appointment as OC chief. As for the “Sack Sheila” chorus, Sibal pointed out that it was not possible to take immediate action on the basis of a CAG report as was being demanded by the opposition. Similarly, he said, the government could not agree for a discussion on the CAG report as it has to be first scrutinised by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). A CAG report is only considered as final after it has been examined by the PAC and then discussed by Parliament, it was stated. “We are always for an enquiry but it has to be done through a due Constitutional process,” Sibal argued. The stance adopted by the UPA government and the Congress on this CAG report today stood out in sharp contrast to its stand when the CAG had blamed former telecom minister A.Raja’s policy on allocation of 2G spectrum which resulted in huge losses to the exchequer. The government had rushed to seek Raja’s resignation and then acceded the opposition demand for a JPC on the same issue. Launching a counter offensive against the opposition, the Congress spokesperson pointed out that the CAG had failed to take note of letters of the NDA regime which revealed that it had signed the host city contract for the games and that the Indian Olympic Association, comprising several NDA leaders, had unanimously elected Kalmadi as it chairperson.
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Delhi CM didn’t favour foreign streetlight firm
New Delhi, August 8 However, a perusal of evidence reveals that a panel headed by the CM had in fact rejected the bid by the firm in question and the same was ultimately cleared under directions of the Delhi High Court’s division Bench comprising Justice Manmohan Sarin (the present Lokayukta of Delhi) and Justice Manmohan. As and when the debate on Sheila’s role in the CWG mess is raised in Parliament, the UPA is bound to corner CAG for questioning the High Court decision. In the run-up to the Games in 2007, the CM-headed Work Advisory Board looking after the clearance of city-beautification projects under the Delhi Government had rejected the bid of Space Age, a foreign firm, in race for the contract. The then Engineer-in-Chief, PWD, while rejecting the bid, had stated that the firm had not provided samples in time. Consequent upon rejection, the firm had moved the CM’s office for intervention, but the CM returned the file to the Principal Secretary, PWD, without writing any comments or orders. This challenges the conclusion CAG draws in its executive summary where it states, “After once being declared disqualified, one of the firms, Space Age, was irregularly declared qualified on subsequent reassessment following his appeal to the CM.” The sentence gives an impression that Dikshit favoured the said firm. However, a complete reading of the CAG’s CWG report makes it clear that Space Age had in fact finally moved the Delhi High Court to save its bid and a division Bench of the court on May 28, 2008, ordered that the same be cleared.
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Appointment of Kalmadi as OC chief Faraz Ahmad Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 8 The agreement was thrashed out after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal accompanied by MoS Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla approached the leaders of the main Opposition BJP, namely Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and SS Ahluwalia. Under the Rules, the CAG report goes directly to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament and only after the PAC has vetted it, a discussion takes place not on the CAG but PAC report. However, Maken had in a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha on August 2 challenged the leaked portions of the CAG report submitted later to Parliament on August 5, accusing the Prime Minister of complicity in the appointment of Kalmadi as the OC chairman. Hiding behind the rules, the BJP, seeking Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s resignation outside Parliament, for her alleged acts of corruption, seemed to be shying away from it in the House. But with the CWG report in the public domain it was under all round pressure to put the government in the dock on the Commonwealth Games. Now, substantial portions of the CAG report will come under the scrutiny of the House, but ostensibly on the pretext of discussing Maken’s statement. Also to avoid any snide remarks of a “Deal” from the non-BJP benches, Bansal also sought separately the consent of the CPM, the CPI and the BSP leaders.
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Lokpal Bill goes to Standing Committee
New Delhi, August 8 The Bill has been sent by Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari to the Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances and Law and Justice which has been given three months to submit its report, a Parliament source said. Congress leader Abhishek
Singhvi, who is a senior advocate, was only recently appointed the head of the committee in place of Jayanthi Natarajan who became a minister in the recent reshuffle. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 4 amid the BJP’s objection over non-inclusion of the office of the Prime Minister under the purview of the anti-corruption watchdog. A section in the government had earlier hoped that the Standing Committee would examine the Bill within this month so that it could be taken up in the current session itself. No other Bill in the recent past has evoked so much controversy as the Lokpal Bill. The government for the first time constituted a Joint Drafting Committee consisting of five representatives each from the government’s side and the civil society represented by Gandhian Anna
Hazare. The Bill keeps the office of the Prime Minister, higher judiciary and conduct of MPs inside Parliament outside the purview of the ombudsman. — PTI
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UP House adjourned twice
Lucknow, August 8 Raising the issue, senior SP MLA Ambika Chadhury underlined that the minister had no legal or constitutional right to sit in the House after being accused of murder - a cognisable offence - by a Chief Judicial Magistrate (Etah), who has ordered investigations. According to Chadhury, former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad and Central ministers A Raja had quit after FIRs were filed against them “Even this BSP government had asked their ministers like Anand Sen, Rajesh Tripathi, late Jamuna Nishad, Ashok Dohre and even favourites like Babu Singh Kushwaha and Anant Mishra to resign after their names cropped up in connection with some scam,” he said. The SP MLA wanted to know why the accused minister was still occupying the Treasury Benches when a CJM court had ordered investigations against him, the Lokayukta had sent him a notice and an FIR had been filed against him.
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Probe ordered into Kerala CM’s role in palmolein case
Thiruvananthapuram, August 8 “I welcome the probe. I have conveyed my stand to the high command,” Chandy told reporters. Rejecting the Opposition LDF demand for Chandy’s resignation, KPCC chief Ramesh Chennithala said, “He is totally innocent and no one can implicate him.” Sources, however, indicated that Chandy might give up the charge of the Vigilance Department as a matter of propriety. Passing the order, Special Vigilance Judge S Jagadeesh rejected the report filed by investigators three months ago stating there was no ground for any further probe in the case. Today’s order asked the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau to submit its investigation report by November 10. The long-pending corruption case had led to the exit of PJ Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner as his name figured as an accused in the case in his capacity as the Food Secretary when the palmolein oil import deal was signed. Late Congress leader Karunakaran was the first accused. The case pertained to import of 32,000 tonne of palmolein from Malyasia causing loss of Rs 2.32 crore to the exchequer. The development stirred the political circles with top Congress and UDF leaders putting up a brave front and rallying behind Chandy to face the first major embarrassment for the government which came to power in May dislodging the LDF. The LDF, however, sought to pillory Chandy asking if it was proper for him to remain in office. — PTI
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Coast Guard: Oil spill has decreased
Mumbai, August 8 Freighter MV Rak sank off Mumbai coast four days ago leaking oil and Coast Guard ships have sprayed dispersants to contain the spill which spread to about seven nautical miles around the ship till yesterday. An aerial recce of the oil slick was carried out by Coast Guard helicopter between 9.30 am and 10.30 am today. It was noticed that the oil slick around the source of the spill has decreased in quantum as compared to yesterday and the rate of spill has reduced to approximately 1 tonne an hour, a Coast Guard press release said. It said the oil slick is visibly thin and a broken silvery sheen extending up to two miles from the scene of the incident is seen. Some of the broken oil patches have also been sighted up to 12 nautical miles from the sunken vessel. Coast Guard ships Samudra Prahari and Sankalp continue to be engaged in Pollution Response (PR) operation. In order to neutralise peripheral oil patches, Coast Guard has pressed one more ship ICGS Amrit Kaur into action. A Dornier aircraft of the CG from Daman has also been deployed. “Every effort is in hand to check fresh oil hitting the coast/beaches,” the release said. Three Coast Guard teams comprising 30 personnel have been deployed for assisting the BMC, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and state authorities in analysing the impact in the affected areas and taking appropriate remedial actions, it said. — PTI
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HC notice to Telangana leaders over protests
Hyderabad, August 8 Taking note of the inconvenience being caused to the general public due to frequent bandhs, the Andhra Pradesh High Court today issued notices to the state government, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhar Rao and Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) convener Prof M Kodandaram. Acting on a public interest litigation filed by a city-based lawyer, Krishnaiah, the court asked the TRS president and Kodandaram, a political science professor at Osmania University here and key Telangana ideologue, to explain why action could not be taken against them for enforcing shutdowns frequently and disrupting the normal public life in the city and other Telangana districts. They have been asked to file their responses within 15 days. The court also issued notice to the State Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and the Director-General of Police to explain the measures being taken to prevent shutdowns and to ensure normalcy, peace and order. The directive came in the backdrop of an intensifying movement for Telangana state. The TJAC has called for shutdown on August 10, demanding deletion of Clause 14 (f) of the Presidential Order (1975) on zonal recruitment. The contentious clause treats Hyderabad as a “free zone” for the purpose of recruitment of staff in the police department. This means that aspirants from other regions are also eligible to compete for the posts. The Telangana protagonists want constitutional amendment for removal of this clause so that Hyderabad is treated as part of the Telangana region for the purpose of recruitments in government departments. However, those who are opposed to the bifurcation of the state want status quo to be continued.
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SC admits appeals against Ayodhya judgment
New Delhi, August 8 A Bench comprising Justices Aftab Alam and RM Lodha tagged the petitions with the main appeals pending in the apex court. The SC has stayed the September 30, 2010, HC verdict on these appeals.
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SC rejects plea against Maya
New Delhi, August 8 According to the petitioner, Kashi Prasad Yadav, the Taj Corridor case against Mayawati was pending with a Bench comprising Justices Pradeep Kant and Shabihul Hasnain of the Lucknow Bench of the HC in the form of PILs. This case was allotted to another Bench on August 28 last year after Mayawati met the Chief Justice twice (on July 21 and August 19), it was alleged. The reallocation was done in the name of bifurcation of public interest litigations (PILs) into two categories - civil and criminal. Dismissing the petition, an apex court Bench comprising Justices RV Raveendran and AK Patnaik observed that it was not proper to “read too much” into the meetings between chief ministers and chief justices of high courts as these were normal. Arguing for the petitioner, counsel Prashant Bhushan contended that the HC Bench was changed after it had expressed “strong views” against Mayawati. At this Justice Raveendran said the Judges “don’t have any strong view. We have only a detached view.” Litigants should not bother about the Bench as it was the internal matter of the HC administration. Justice Patnaik remarked that the apex court should not interfere with the administration of the HC which functioned independently. No HC could be placed under the SC, except in judicial matters, he added.
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The UPA government and the Congress today came out in stout defence of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) stating unequivocally that the two had not been indicted by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its report on the Commonwealth Games as charged by an aggressive opposition.
Mumbai, August 8
Spelling more trouble for Yeddyurappa who was forced to quit as chief minister last week following his indictment in a Lokayukta report on illegal mining, the Lokayukta Special Court ordered him and 14 others to appear before it on August 27.
Chandy offered to step down and face the case “legally and morally” but was restrained from doing so by leaders of the Congress and other ruling UDF constituents as he was not chargesheeted, Front sources said.