New Delhi: A day after the Supreme Court came down heavily on the government and the Central Bureau of Investigation for sharing the coal scam probe report, Attorney General GE Vahanvati met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday. Law Minister Ashwani Kumar had also reached the PMO to meet Manmohan Singh but he was not given an appointment.
Vahanvati, Ashwani Kumar and the two officials of the PMO and the Coal Ministry have been accused by the CBI in its affidavit of suggesting changes to its report on coalgate. Vahanvati, however, has sought to deflect charges against him, saying he never sought a copy of the report and that he acted as per the instructions of the Law Minister. "My meeting with CBI officials took place only on suggestions of the Law Minister," he had told the SC.
Meanwhile, sources have said that decision on the Law Minister's fate could be taken in the next 48 hours. Pressure has been building up on the Prime Minister to sack Ashwani, whom many within the Congress reportedly look at as a liability following the CBI's allegations.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader LK Advani also took potshots at Manmohan Singh saying he was defending Ashwani because his removal will place his position vulnerable. ...
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01:57 PM, May 09, 2013
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed former CBI DIG Ravi Kanta to resume charge of the coal scam probe. Ravi Kanta was the main investigating officer in the case. However, he had been transferred recently to the Intelligence Bureau. Sources say that Kanta had himself sought deputation to the IB even before the coal scam probe was handed over to him. However, the then CBI chief AP Singh...
04:14 PM, May 08, 2013
New Delhi: Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, Attorney General Goolam E Vahanvati, one Joint Secretary rank official each from the Prime Minister's Office and the Coal Ministry not only saw the draft status report on the coal scam case, but also ordered some changes in it, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told the Supreme Court in a fresh affidavit submitted on Monday. The nine-page affidavit submitted by CBI Director Ranjit...
11:42 AM, May 06, 2013
As Sarabjit Singh's condition continues to be serious, the Indian government on Wednesday made an official request to have him moved to a third country for further treatment. ...
10:38 PM, May 01, 2013
New Delhi: Law Minister Ashwani Kumar on Wednesday denied that he had seen the CBI's status report on coalgate. At a Congress party briefing, Kumar is learnt to have told spokespersons and senior leaders, including those who represent the party in television debates that he has done "no wrong" and hence there should be no shyness in countering opposition charges. The briefing was attended by Union Ministers Jairam Ramesh, Pawan...
09:55 PM, May 01, 2013
New Delhi: The Ministry of Coal on Tuesday faced the ire of the Supreme Court for its non-cooperation with CBI in the coalgate scam probe by depriving the agency of crucial documents. The apex court was pained as the Ministry, whose senior official was named as one of the persons with whom CBI shared its draft status report, was running away from providing information to the agency. "It is very...
10:20 PM, Apr 30, 2013
New Delhi: Attorney General GE Vahanvati on Tuesday found himself on the backfoot in the Supreme Court while reiterating his stand of not knowing the contents of the CBI probe report in coal scam in the wake of allegations of his colleague Harin Raval that he had perused and settled the draft report. "Since a lot of things have been said and the letter (of ASG Raval) has been leaked...
10:10 PM, Apr 30, 2013
New Delhi: In what is likely to spell more trouble for the government, sources on Tuesday said that the CBI's draft status report on coal scam was vetted by Attorney General GE Vahanvati. According to sources, Vahanvati settled the status report himself by making hand written changes on a draft copy. Additional Solicitor General Harin Raval, who resigned earlier in the day, had in his letter to Vahanvati on Monday...
09:20 PM, Apr 30, 2013
New Delhi: Additional Solicitor General Harin Raval on Tuesday resigned over coalgate. In a statement, he said, "I am resigning as ASG in SC as desired. Please accept this with immediate effect and oblige. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the government." Raval had represented the CBI in earlier hearings in the Supreme Court. His resignation comes just after his explosive letter to Attorney General GE Vahanvati whom...
06:47 PM, Apr 30, 2013
New Delhi: Additional Solicitor General Harin Raval may be asked to quit following his outburst against Attorney General GE Vahanvati in the coal scam case, according to sources. This comes as the two top law officers of the government are engaged in an open war in the case. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called a meeting late on Monday night of Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran and Law Minister Ashwani Kumar to...
10:40 AM, Apr 30, 2013
Additional Solicitor General and CBI counsel in the coal scam case Harin Raval wrote a letter to Attorney General Ghoolam E Vahanvati accusing him of interfering in the CBI's case. Raval in his letter has alleged that he has been made a scapegoat in the case. Following is the full text of the letter written by Raval to Vahanvati: Learned Attorney General Sir, Sir, as a leader of the Bar...
08:54 AM, Apr 30, 2013
New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the coal scam case on Tuesday and decide whether the government tried to influence the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe. But there's more embarrassment for the UPA government ahead of the hearing with its top law officers in a war of words. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called a meeting late on Monday night of Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran and Law...
07:45 AM, Apr 30, 2013
New Delhi: In another twist in the coal blocks allocations probe and the embarrassment the government is facing, Additional Solicitor-General Haren Rawal, who is representing the CBI in the case, wrote to Attorney General GE Vahanvati on Monday and alleged that he was being made a scapegoat by him. Sources said on Monday night that Raval made the claim in a letter to Attorney General GE Vahanvati in which he...
10:29 PM, Apr 29, 2013
The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) looking into the 2G scam has given former telecom minister A Raja the option of giving a written explanation on Attorney General GE Vahanvati's charges in the case. The explanation will be part of the JPC's records. The JPC report on the case is likely to be submitted in the first week of May. ...
12:18 PM, Mar 08, 2013
New Delhi: Government on Tuesday filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court rejecting the allegation of interference of an influential Minister in the investigation of 2G spectrum case as "baseless" and said it was not trying to "influence" the probe against Essar Group. In the affidavit, the Centre said such allegations were being made to tarnish and discredit government's image and such a serious charge against the minister who is...
10:32 PM, Jan 17, 2012
New Delhi: Refuting media reports, which suggested that Dayanidhi Maran has been given a clean chit in the 2G case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday told the Supreme Court that the role of the former Union minister is still under investigation. In fact the CBI told the apex court that the inquiry has reveled prima facie that Malaysian industrialists were in contact with Dayanidhi Maran and there...
04:45 PM, Sep 08, 2011
New Delhi: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday rejected suggestions that he had anything to do with the pricing of the 2G spectrum and hit out at those spreading 'disinformation' on the issue. In 2007 when he was External Affairs Minister, Mukherjee had been appointed Chairman of a Group of Ministers (GoM) on vacation of 3G spectrum which, he said, had nothing to do with 2G and its pricing. The...
03:36 PM, Jul 30, 2011
New Delhi: After A Raja, former Telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura on Thursday sought to implicate Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the 2G spectrum scam, claiming that the PMO was kept in the loop by the then Telecom Minister on the first-come-first-served policy in the award of licenses. Behura, seeking discharge from the case, said the letter, written by Raja to the Prime Minister on December 26, 2007, makes it clear...
05:14 PM, Jul 28, 2011
New Delhi: The Supreme Court came down heavily on the Central Government once again on the appointment of PJ Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC). The apex court asked the Central Government if the service file of Thomas was taken into account along with his biodata before deciding on appointing him as the CVC. The court slammed the Government after Attorney General GE Vahanvati told the bench that a chargesheet...
01:36 PM, Feb 03, 2011
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday while hearing Ratan Tata's petition on corporate lobbyist Nira Radia tapes directed the media that the image of individuals should not be tarnished without evidence till the hearing in the privacy suit is completed. Directing the media to report only the facts related to the case, the apex court directed the media to respect and maintain the dignity of individuals. The court also...
04:47 PM, Dec 13, 2010
