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2G: JPC summons finance secy, seeks affidavit from ministries
SC: Public interest will guide verdict on PC
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K’taka Guv wanted rules bent to promote ADC
HR Bhardwaj
HC halts probe against Chandy in palmolein case
Five killed in building collapse in Delhi
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2G: JPC summons finance secy, seeks affidavit from ministries
New Delhi, September 27 The Chairman responded to Opposition members’ anxiety over the controversial Ministry of Finance office memorandum dated March 25, 2011, sent to Joint Secretary PMO, Vini Mahajan, which pointed a finger at Home Minister P Chidambaram. CPM member on JPC Sitaram Yechury considered this a "serious act" and a "breach of privilege" if it was withheld deliberately. SS Ahluwalia of the BJP demanded adjournment of the meeting till the Finance Secretary appeared and explained the position. He was supported in this demand by Gurudas Dasgupta of the CPI. The JPC also decided to write to the Department of Telecom, the Finance Ministry, the Law and Justice ministry, the Corporate Affairs ministry, the PMO and even the Planning Commission to supply all documents which have any bearing on the terms of reference of the JPC and also submit an affidavit alongside guaranteeing that all the papers have been submitted to the committee. Simultaneously, tomorrow scheduled sitting was cancelled for which the members had received this note yesterday. This matter was settled through a three-hour-long debate after which the JPC carried on with the inconclusive evidence. It summoned former telecom secretary from February 2004 to March 2005 Nripendra Mishra for recording of evidence. Mishra’s testimony is still inconclusive. He informed the JPC that though the then Union Cabinet decided in its meeting on October 31, 2003, to disincentivise telecom operators not fully utilising the allotted spectrum, the decision was not implemented till May 2005 causing huge losses to the national exchequer. However, Mishra claimed the decision could not be implemented because the TRAI, which was to specify the penalties or disincentives, failed to come up with any guidelines till May 2005. He also disclosed that after the Cabinet decision, there was no consultation between the Telecom Ministry and the Finance Ministry nor was the mandate referred back to the Cabinet because the TRAI had the mandate on Spectrum. On any delay in the issue of licences to Aircel, Mishra said that in his time, eight licences were issued to Aircel in Assam, Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh and the North-East. He denied that any files pertaining to Aircel were kept pending in his time. Former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran was forced to resign amid charges of holding up Aircel licences and forcing its owners to sell the company to a Malaysian conglomerate which had invested in his brother’s TV channel, Sun TV.
Pranab to comment only after meeting PM
Kolkata: Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday maintained that he will speak, if necessary, on the finance ministry note on 2G spectrum allocation issue only after talking to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday. "I am reiterating what I have said in New York and Delhi. If there is anything necessary to speak on the finance ministry note obtained through an RTI application, I will speak after talking to the Prime Minister and other senior colleagues on Wednesday," Mukherjee told reporters at his residence here. — PTI
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SC: Public interest will guide verdict on PC
New Delhi, September 27 “These are the two balancing considerations” that would be weighed against each other while arriving at a conclusion, a Bench comprising justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly remarked during two hours of arguments. The Bench said it would take into account the objections of both the Centre and the CBI to the probe plea by placing reliance on various apex court judgments based on “technicalities and procedural niceties.” Today, the CBI clarified that the Finance Ministry’s March 25, 2011 communication to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), relied upon by Swamy, was part of the documents it had already investigated. The investigations did not yield anything against Chidambaram, CBI’s senior counsel KK Venugopal said. Meanwhile, the Centre and the CBI once again sparred before the Bench today during the course of the arguments, though both of them were against Swamy’s plea. Centre’s senior counsel PP Rao made a submission that under the legal provisions, the CBI was bound to examine all fresh material brought out against Chidambaram. Venugopal said, “I strongly object to Union of India making such a statement. The CBI is autonomous and independent of the government. I am not going by this statement at all. Nobody can put words into our mouth.” At the last hearing on September 23, Venugopal told the Bench that the CBI would like the apex court to continue monitoring investigations in the 2G case. Rao had remarked that he was “really surprised” by the CBI stand as under law the Supreme Court’s role should have come to an end the moment the first chargesheet was filed in the case. Venugopal clarified that the SC monitoring would now be confined to the two aspects (not connected to the allocation of 2G spectrum in 2008 by then telecom minister A Raja) that were still under investigation. Meanwhile, Raja’s senior counsel Sushil Kumar told the Bench that his client was being subjected to strong prejudice arising from the SC embargo on granting bail till the charges were framed and the continuance of the trial even while the investigations were still on. Also, the CBI was refusing to share with Raja all the material it had gathered against him. This amounted to denial of natural justice, Kumar contended. The trial could not have commenced when the investigations were on, while the bail could not be denied due to the delay in the framing of charges by the trial court in the light of the fresh charges sought to be brought on by the CBI, he said. The arguments will continue tomorrow.
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K’taka Guv wanted rules bent to promote ADC
Bangalore, September 27 In a letter dated May 26, 2010, Bhardwaj wrote to the then Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa asking him to promote KC Venkatarao Mane, ADC to Governor, to the IPS grade. Mane, an officer of the auxiliary forces (Armed Reserved Police Force), is not eligible to be promoted to the IPS. Yeddyurappa, however, accepted the Governor’s recommendation and issued an order last October that cleared the way for officers of auxiliary forces to be promoted to the IPS rank. The order stated that auxiliary forces officers could be promoted to IPS rank to fill the vacancies for the year 2009. But Yeddyurappa had to withdraw the order after an objection was raised by the then DGP Ajay Kumar Singh. “The government has issued an order according to which only Mane is eligible to the IPS. Since the order only stands good for one year, no similarly placed officer will be in a position to benefit from it. Therefore, the order is not in public interest,” Ajay K Singh wrote on November 19 last year. Bhardwaj, a former Union Law Minister, however, started pushing Mane’s case again after Sadananda Gowda became Chief Minister of Karnataka. When Gowda replaced Yeddyurappa, Bhardwaj summoned Home Minister R Ashoka to Raj Bhawan and asked him to help Mane get the promotion. Ashoka wrote to the DGP recommending the change of cadre of Mane from armed reserved forces to civil police so that he could be considered for promotion to the IPS. However, the Home Minister’s recommendation has been again turned down by the present Karnataka DGP N Achuta Rao. Rao has written a letter to the Chief Secretary saying there was no provision in Cadre and Recruitment Rules for change of cadre from armed police to civil police. The DGP wrote that while civil police officers were trained for crime detection and handling of law and order situations, armed reserved police force officers were trained for staff management and so on. “A government order clearly states that only civil police officials will be eligible for promotion to the IPS,” Rao wrote.
Square peg for round hole?
Bhardwaj wants to promote KC Venkatarao Mane, ADC to Governor, to the IPS grade. As Mane is an officer of the auxiliary forces, he is not eligible for it. While former and present CMs — Yeddyurappa and Sadananda Gowda — succumbed to Bhardwaj’s plea, DGPs, then and now, stuck to their guns
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HC halts probe against Chandy in palmolein case
Kochi, September 27 The interim order was issued by Justice KT Sankaran on a petition filed by senior IAS officer Jiji Thomson, who is the fifth accused in the case, seeking to quash the order of the Thiruvananthapuram vigilance special court. Thomson, a former Kerala civil supplies MD, had complained of 'untold harassment' and 'mental agony' in the Palmolein case and submitted that the special judge had no power to order further investigation suo motu. Thomson, secretary general of the Commonwealth Games, said he was not given a posting as additional secretary or equivalent only due to prolonged pendency of the palmolein case while all other officials similarly placed have been promoted. The case has been posted to October 17. — PTI
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PM: China has done nothing worrisome On Board Air India One, Sept 27 "They (China) have assured us that they have done nothing to harm the interests of India. Evidence also supports that nothing has happened on the border about which we should be worried," he said in response to a question. Singh was speaking to mediapersons accompanying him on his way back from New York. Against the backdrop of the US assertion that Pakistan's ISI was helping terror groups in Afghanistan, the Prime Minister hoped that the world would "wake up" to the realisation about which India had been talking about for long. He said that he had joined the rest of the world leaders in his speech at the United Nations in condoling the assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani. There is a strong growing awareness that measures have to be taken to check these forces, Singh said. Gen Mike Mullen, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US, has said that there are "certain forces in Pakistan. It is not new to us. If fact, the world did not believe us earlier. I am quite certain that now the world will wake up to these forces." His statement came against the backdrop of America's assertion that ISI was helping Haqqani network terror group in launching attacks in Afghanistan. Referring to intervention in Libya where the Gaddafi regime was ousted, Singh said there will be a possibility of a situation evolving like in Somalia. "If that happens, it will be very difficult (to handle)," he said. — PTI
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Five killed in building collapse in Delhi New Delhi, September 27 There are also fears that some more victims could be under the rubble. The five persons were brought dead to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narain Hospital while 25 others who suffered head and limb injuries were undergoing treatment, police said. The MCD ordered an inquiry into the collapse of two buildings, including a 70-year-old structure, in Chandni Mahal. It has also instructed the City Zone Deputy Commissioner to submit the preliminary report by tomorrow and final report within three days. The collapse also prompted Delhi government to blame MCD, saying a tragedy of this kind was "waiting to happen" in the area as the civic officials were "never bothered" to take any precautionary measures despite the dilapidated condition of the buildings. The incident came as a stark reminder to the last November's building collapse in east Delhi's Laxmi Nagar which claimed over 70 lives. Locals and officials said an under-construction building collapsed first, which had an impact on the multi-storey building leading to its collapse. Construction was happening in a building adjacent to the 70-year-old building and the owner of the former structure had dug a deep foundation for constructing another floor which led to the weakening of the other building, locals claimed. Sibal faces public ire Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal faced the ire of people at a government hospital when he arrived there to visit those injured in the Old Delhi building collapse. Sibal came to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash hospital soon after two buildings collapsed, but could not come out as a number of people surrounded his vehicle. The Union Minister represents Chandni Chowk constituency in Lok Sabha under which Chandni Mahal area is located. As soon as his vehicle arrived, locals who had gathered at the hospital protested and surrounded his vehicle. He could not get out of the vehicle and due to protests, he returned without visiting the injured. — PTI
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from the JPC probing the 2G scam, chairman PC Chacko summoned Union Finance Secretary RS Gujral for explanation and also directed all concerned ministries to submit an affidavit declaring that they have supplied all relevant documents.
Bangalore, September 27
