Though the report of the Public Accounts Committee on 2G scam was subdued in the ruckus created by the parliamentarians on accepting the clear cut findings because they indict clean-image Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the message has been delivered.
Interestingly, the Bharatiya Janata Party member MM Joshi, who was on the receiving end by the Congress MPs assisted by its allies and foes-turned-allies like the BSP and SP, appeared to have had the last laugh.
Joshi was perhaps aware that the PAC report would be short-lived. The Congress party would in any case have turned it down had it been fully accepted. The party had been raising the questions of continuing with the PAC after the JPC had been constituted. But Joshi went ahead with his probe.
The PAC gained a lot of brownie points by summoning the likes of Ratan Tata and Anil Ambani. The PAC members went along with Joshi for sometime, only protesting in murmurs but as he become bold and daring enough to reach, what the Congress wants to protect - the Prime Minister, they had enough. As PMO officials were about to be called for giving their statements, Soz and his team of eight went on the rampage, forcing Joshi to shelve his plans of calling the PM for examination, which Singh himself had offered earlier.
And before the PAC term could end on April 30, the (draft) report hit the headlines.
The report is unlikely to be accepted. But the damage has been done.
The veteran leader was more or less successful in hinting who are the protagonists of the Rs 1.76 crore scam besides those already in jail, including former Telecom Minister A Raja. The name of PM had been dragged in the 2G scam.
The most vital question is what has been Manmohan Singh’s contribution in perpetuating the scam? How did he benefit from the mega scam?
Caesar wife should be above suspicion. So if there are fingers being pointed out, should it not be proper for the highest executive officer holder to come out clean, if he so desires to remain spotlessly taint-free.
Leaving aside the fact that Raja mislead the PM on more than a few occasions, the PMO too showed files to Singh after the scam had taken place. The PM with the RAW, IB at his command and so also all the senior babus who are supposed to keep him informed on important matters of the state, should have briefed Singh at some point about the scam taking place.
Given that the scam managers were able to hoodwink the PM, PMO, IB, ED… and Raja was able to “deliberately and dismindly mislead the PM in order to fulfill his nefarious design leading to a staggering loss of revenue which also tarnished the image of the country”, was the PM so self-contained or occupied or powerless that he could not spare time and stop what was happening right in front of his face. A newspaper was regularly writing about the scam since 2008, much before the 2009 general elections. Should not the PM have taken cognizance?
The questions being raised are:
Why did the Prime Minister give “indirect green signal” to former Telecom Minister A Raja?
“The PM’s “desire to keep the PMO at arm’s length indirectly helped the Communications Minister to go ahead and execute his unfair, arbitrary and dubious designs.” Why did the PM keep the PMO at arm’s length? How long was the arm?
Manmohan has recently said that revenue generation has never been a primary consideration. This contradicts his India Telecom 2007 statement that revenue generation must not be lost sight of. Why is the PM flip flopping on such important matters?
The PMO is “required to reconcile the two divergent views of the PM”.
Will Singh present himself to the Central Bureau of Investigation, like he offered to the PAC?
The onus is on the PM and not on the agency to come forward. The fact of the matter is CBI cannot move against the PM. Can a sleuth, no matter how gutsy or fool-hardy, question the man who inaugurates their swanky building? Can any file noting be ever made against the PM?
In any case, the CBI and other investigating agencies have to seek permission from the sanctioning authority, which sounds a very difficult proposition.
The CBI after filing the second chargesheet in the court indicated that it was as far as it could go, barring a supplementary. In fact the role of the premier agency has been that of a passive one, acting at the behest of the Supreme Court.
But Singh should take the lead and come forward and present what circumstances led to the scam, was he never aware of the scam taking place, why no officer briefed him and plethora of other questions. The chair of the PM has to be above board. Singh is King, and it should show.
Showing posts with label 2G scam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2G scam. Show all posts
Friday, May 6, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
CBI plays soft ball
Indian Olympic Association chief and former head of the CWG Organising Committee Suresh Kalmadi has finally been arrested by the CBI for awarding Commonwealth Games contract to a Swiss company at an inflated rate of `141 crore and causing `95 crore loss to the exchequer.Kalmadi is allegedly accused of not only signing the contract as the head of the executive board of the OC, from which he was removed after the loot was widely reported in the media, but because of his pre-mediated and planned role much before the contract was awarded to Swiss Timekeeping.Kalmadi was instrumental in changing the specification for awarding the contract to the Swiss company and appointing personnel who toed his line. Kalmadi also removed officials who objected to the selection of the company on a single tender basis while ignoring MSL of Spain. For the Timing-Scoring-Result (TSR) System, MSL had quoted `45 crore but Kalmadi awarded contract to Swiss Timekeeping thus causing `95 crore loss to the exchequer. Out of this loss, `23 crore was paid for non-execution of any service.“Kalmadi was arrested for awarding the contract in a planned and pre-mediated manner to the Swiss company,” a CBI official said after formally arresting the Pune MP at 3.30 pm on Monday."Kalmadi threatened and coerced tender evaluation committee members to disqualify other bidders," the CBI said. Agency spokesperson Dharini Mishra said further investigations are on.The CBI has so far registered 10 cases in the scam related to the organisation of the event.
Five of these are against the OC, three against NDMC and one against SIS Live.More than six months after the sports extravaganza and a month after arresting two officials, the agency has finally pounced on the big cat.The same slow pace and over-cautious approach of the agency is visible in the 2G scam probe. Though the agency has named DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s daughter M Kanimozhi in the second chargesheet filed today, it has left out his wife Dayaluammal. After receiving Rs 100 crore on splitting with Sun TV, Dayaluammal along with daughter Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar formed Kalaignar TV. This television company got unsecured loan which is seen as an alleged ‘bribe’ of Rs 200 crore from Shahid Balwa’s DB Realty for getting spectrum licence. After it was discovered and reported in the media, the money was given back to Balwa’s company.The CBI says it did not make her an accused because “she does not know English”. The agency ignored the fact Dayaluammal has 60 per cent stake in Kalaignar TV and being a majority partner, she is legally responsible for all the actions that her company takes.“We did not name her as an accused because she did not know English. Even her statement was recorded with the help of a translator. She had no active role and her signatures are not on any company document,” the CBI official investigating the case said. Kanimozhi was made an accused because “she was an active stakeholder, effectively dealing with (former Telecom minister A) Raja, Radia tapes and she was pushing Kalaignar TV in Delhi,” an official said.By filing the second chargesheet, the CBI has effectively concluded the 2G scam probe except the Loop Telecom, where some senior officials have stakes in Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt Ltd (formerly Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd) and Loop Telecom through Mauritius-based companies. However, the agency would find it difficult to move against ADAG chief Anil Ambani and Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata as Swan and Unitech involved in the 2G scam are alleged fronts of both the groups respectively. CBI officials admit that was as far as it could go but left little room depending on the circumstances. “We have to move according to each layer. If a layer leads to second layer we proceed. If we find no evidence leading to third level, we cannot proceed on the basis of presumed evidence,” a senior official handling investigation said. However, the CBI may file an additional chargesheet in the Loop case. The agency is moving slowly as it getting sanction against senior officials in a phased manner, according to sources. The high and mighty involved in both the 2G scam and CWG loot are actively involved in removing evidence. “This is what they are doing. What can we do about it,” admitted a CBI official.
Five of these are against the OC, three against NDMC and one against SIS Live.More than six months after the sports extravaganza and a month after arresting two officials, the agency has finally pounced on the big cat.The same slow pace and over-cautious approach of the agency is visible in the 2G scam probe. Though the agency has named DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s daughter M Kanimozhi in the second chargesheet filed today, it has left out his wife Dayaluammal. After receiving Rs 100 crore on splitting with Sun TV, Dayaluammal along with daughter Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar formed Kalaignar TV. This television company got unsecured loan which is seen as an alleged ‘bribe’ of Rs 200 crore from Shahid Balwa’s DB Realty for getting spectrum licence. After it was discovered and reported in the media, the money was given back to Balwa’s company.The CBI says it did not make her an accused because “she does not know English”. The agency ignored the fact Dayaluammal has 60 per cent stake in Kalaignar TV and being a majority partner, she is legally responsible for all the actions that her company takes.“We did not name her as an accused because she did not know English. Even her statement was recorded with the help of a translator. She had no active role and her signatures are not on any company document,” the CBI official investigating the case said. Kanimozhi was made an accused because “she was an active stakeholder, effectively dealing with (former Telecom minister A) Raja, Radia tapes and she was pushing Kalaignar TV in Delhi,” an official said.By filing the second chargesheet, the CBI has effectively concluded the 2G scam probe except the Loop Telecom, where some senior officials have stakes in Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt Ltd (formerly Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd) and Loop Telecom through Mauritius-based companies. However, the agency would find it difficult to move against ADAG chief Anil Ambani and Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata as Swan and Unitech involved in the 2G scam are alleged fronts of both the groups respectively. CBI officials admit that was as far as it could go but left little room depending on the circumstances. “We have to move according to each layer. If a layer leads to second layer we proceed. If we find no evidence leading to third level, we cannot proceed on the basis of presumed evidence,” a senior official handling investigation said. However, the CBI may file an additional chargesheet in the Loop case. The agency is moving slowly as it getting sanction against senior officials in a phased manner, according to sources. The high and mighty involved in both the 2G scam and CWG loot are actively involved in removing evidence. “This is what they are doing. What can we do about it,” admitted a CBI official.
Monday, April 4, 2011
The magic of being Mr Sharad Pawar
Did you enjoy the game? Well in all the hulla buloo and glory of the balls, it seems we have forgotten the man behind the greatest cricket show on earth. Sharad Chandra Govindrao Pawar. We have forgotten to honour Mr Sharad Pawar.
And it’s not for cricket alone that he deserves the distinction of being given a standing ovation. He is one of the few politicians who has seen it all, been there and done that without getting involved in any scam or any corruption case.
Man of many seasons, he has walked across various tides without a scratch. The wind blows in his face and he couldn’t care less much like a camel walking the Thar desert facing sand dunes.
Like him nor not, but you cannot ignore Mr Sharad Pawar, agriculture minister of the country and chairman of International Cricket Council and ‘National’ Congress Party president.
Latest doing the round is that Pawar flew with Shahid Balwa to Dubai. Does it matter that he flew with the 2G scam accused (Yes Balwa and Pawar flew together to Dubai - on a date...). Hardly! Of course, Mr Pawar couldn’t have remembered the 37-year-old budding business honcho. Balwa’s company got Rs 1.32 crore from the NCP for flying him around during 2008 elections. This was the time Balwa was trying to get the 2G spectrum from A Raja. Eventually, Balwa is alleged to have paid Rs 214 crore bribe through a net of three companies that landed at Mr M Karunanidhi’s doorstep.
But what is the connection with Pawar. Nothing, if you believe Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil. However, there is an interesting twist to the Pawar-Balwa link apart from aircraft usage by the NCP strongman.
Lawyer Prashant Bhushan has sought to link Swan Telecom promoter Balwa to a Central Minister (Pawar). Interestingly, CBI joint director YP Singh, who was handling the 2G scam case, took voluntary retirement from the primer investigating agency to join the ICC. There is a possibility that Singh could have given all the good tips to ICC to benefit the cricketing body. Mr Pawar still is out of focus. When NCP boss says that he is not friends with Balwa, who is just too young, it fails logic why no one is ready to buy the argument.
Is there just too much coincidence!
In fact people have always let Pawar beep off the radar and who has never really got bowled.
Abdul Karim Telgi, accused for making printing and selling fake stamp papers, landed in police net for stealing government stamps worth Rs 23,000 crore from railway wagons between 1997-2003. In a narco test, Telgi specically named Mr Sharad Pawar, as the man who was involved in the racket.
The Telgi clip was repeatedly aired by the news channels without any impact on Pawar. An accuse in a case can name his conspirators but if the law allows him to escape scrutiny, it doesn’t augur well for a prudent and balance legal system like ours.
And even social activist’s Anna Hazare’s campaign against Pawar didn’t pay any dividends. Hazare and other Maharashtra leaders have to the extent of pointing fingers at Pawar for his close releationship with underworld don cum terrorist Dawood Ibrahim. Not much has come out on that score though people would like to believe otherwise.
Pawar, a Sagittarius born on December 12, 1940, is considered to be one of the richest politicians of India, though on paper he hardly worth a couple of crores. Pawar has deep-rooted sweet interest in sugar industry in Maharashtra. No wonder that sugar prices in the UPA regime under his excellent guidance had reached a record-high. Ditto for all the commodity items like wheat, onion…
He now has ventured into education and real estate, albeit through the back door. Lavasa is just a case in point, which is being linked to the agriculture minister.
Off the record, people in Baramati are ready to explain what all Pawar owns, runs or has interests in. The figures can be astounding.
There are no permanent friends or foes in politics and no one knows it better than Pawar.
Ambitious Pawar branched out from the Congress party as he could not digest the idea of Italy-born Sonia Gandhi leading the nation. He formed the NCP, which is now an ally of the UPA.
And politics alone could not have captured the fancy of the Maratha strong-man. His foray into cricket should not be surprising. He became the chief of the cricketing organization, the BCCI, the richest sporting body in the country. After three-years, Pawar had enough of national cricket and ventured into the big league, the ICC. And since then its been smooth sailing, despite the fact the Indian Premier League fiasco also happened during this phase. Lalit Modi, the man who the IPL muck has been unloaded, is refusing to come to India. Is it the Pawar-factor at work?
Now Balwa has come out and openly told a court and CBI officials that nothing will happen in the 2G case or the aircraft linking to NCP. Pawar has always been controversial and yet managed a thriving political career sprinkled with scams taints. The beauty is that sahib, as he is fondly called by his admirers, has had a fairly good track record.
Pawar’s power, reach and craftsmanship are unimaginable. And what Balwa says is not without reason. There is a strong underlined message and the script is being rewritten as it tends to spoil the cricketing party. Is the underlining by Balwa being taken too seriously?
And it’s not for cricket alone that he deserves the distinction of being given a standing ovation. He is one of the few politicians who has seen it all, been there and done that without getting involved in any scam or any corruption case.
Man of many seasons, he has walked across various tides without a scratch. The wind blows in his face and he couldn’t care less much like a camel walking the Thar desert facing sand dunes.
Like him nor not, but you cannot ignore Mr Sharad Pawar, agriculture minister of the country and chairman of International Cricket Council and ‘National’ Congress Party president.
Latest doing the round is that Pawar flew with Shahid Balwa to Dubai. Does it matter that he flew with the 2G scam accused (Yes Balwa and Pawar flew together to Dubai - on a date...). Hardly! Of course, Mr Pawar couldn’t have remembered the 37-year-old budding business honcho. Balwa’s company got Rs 1.32 crore from the NCP for flying him around during 2008 elections. This was the time Balwa was trying to get the 2G spectrum from A Raja. Eventually, Balwa is alleged to have paid Rs 214 crore bribe through a net of three companies that landed at Mr M Karunanidhi’s doorstep.
But what is the connection with Pawar. Nothing, if you believe Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil. However, there is an interesting twist to the Pawar-Balwa link apart from aircraft usage by the NCP strongman.
Lawyer Prashant Bhushan has sought to link Swan Telecom promoter Balwa to a Central Minister (Pawar). Interestingly, CBI joint director YP Singh, who was handling the 2G scam case, took voluntary retirement from the primer investigating agency to join the ICC. There is a possibility that Singh could have given all the good tips to ICC to benefit the cricketing body. Mr Pawar still is out of focus. When NCP boss says that he is not friends with Balwa, who is just too young, it fails logic why no one is ready to buy the argument.
Is there just too much coincidence!
In fact people have always let Pawar beep off the radar and who has never really got bowled.
Abdul Karim Telgi, accused for making printing and selling fake stamp papers, landed in police net for stealing government stamps worth Rs 23,000 crore from railway wagons between 1997-2003. In a narco test, Telgi specically named Mr Sharad Pawar, as the man who was involved in the racket.
The Telgi clip was repeatedly aired by the news channels without any impact on Pawar. An accuse in a case can name his conspirators but if the law allows him to escape scrutiny, it doesn’t augur well for a prudent and balance legal system like ours.
And even social activist’s Anna Hazare’s campaign against Pawar didn’t pay any dividends. Hazare and other Maharashtra leaders have to the extent of pointing fingers at Pawar for his close releationship with underworld don cum terrorist Dawood Ibrahim. Not much has come out on that score though people would like to believe otherwise.
Pawar, a Sagittarius born on December 12, 1940, is considered to be one of the richest politicians of India, though on paper he hardly worth a couple of crores. Pawar has deep-rooted sweet interest in sugar industry in Maharashtra. No wonder that sugar prices in the UPA regime under his excellent guidance had reached a record-high. Ditto for all the commodity items like wheat, onion…
He now has ventured into education and real estate, albeit through the back door. Lavasa is just a case in point, which is being linked to the agriculture minister.
Off the record, people in Baramati are ready to explain what all Pawar owns, runs or has interests in. The figures can be astounding.
There are no permanent friends or foes in politics and no one knows it better than Pawar.
Ambitious Pawar branched out from the Congress party as he could not digest the idea of Italy-born Sonia Gandhi leading the nation. He formed the NCP, which is now an ally of the UPA.
And politics alone could not have captured the fancy of the Maratha strong-man. His foray into cricket should not be surprising. He became the chief of the cricketing organization, the BCCI, the richest sporting body in the country. After three-years, Pawar had enough of national cricket and ventured into the big league, the ICC. And since then its been smooth sailing, despite the fact the Indian Premier League fiasco also happened during this phase. Lalit Modi, the man who the IPL muck has been unloaded, is refusing to come to India. Is it the Pawar-factor at work?
Now Balwa has come out and openly told a court and CBI officials that nothing will happen in the 2G case or the aircraft linking to NCP. Pawar has always been controversial and yet managed a thriving political career sprinkled with scams taints. The beauty is that sahib, as he is fondly called by his admirers, has had a fairly good track record.
Pawar’s power, reach and craftsmanship are unimaginable. And what Balwa says is not without reason. There is a strong underlined message and the script is being rewritten as it tends to spoil the cricketing party. Is the underlining by Balwa being taken too seriously?
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Who is to blame for the mess?
A man recently lost his life due to traffic mismanagement in place for the convoy of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who had to attend the Congress party plenary at Burari in Delhi.
This is not the first death due to traffic blockages in place for the PM and that too when he did not take the route. Two other deaths have been reported, one from Chandigarh and another in Kanpur, due to traffic blockades of the PM. Perhaps, this will not be the last, if adequate measures not adopted and soon at that.
Without questioning the need of security for the PM, it raises a pertinent question – Do we value the life of a citizen of the country? If yes, has anyone been held responsible for the deaths? Why has no officer or the PM been held guilty of murder? Who is to blame?
Why can’t we have systems that enable unhindered movement of the PMs and also respect the right of the citizens to live and move freely, and not die or at least reach emergency services in time?
The answer lies in the fact that we do not value the life. A death is just a small news item or a passing mention in the briefs.
We are still living in the mindset of British slavery. Today, in our system, we treat district magistrates as lords and police officials at unbridled dictators. Judges and netas are Gods. Bow down mister, or else…
That leaves us - you and me in a crappy hole. Just run a reality check. We travel in overcrowded buses and metros, bear stench of open nalas, walk in uncleaned streets, beg gas wallahs to deliver our cylinders, traffic is in a mess and we plead cops not to challan … all because most of the bureaucrats and leaders are lethargic, corrupt and work in self-centered mode. Corruption is omni-present and bribe is the way to get your file moving. Governance is in pits. A day in the life of the nation is filled with greed, graft, bribery, dirty money. We are still rated among the most corrupt in the world. Human rights, not the Arundhati-Kashmir variety type, are only for thesis papers.
Corruption at the top – 2G scam, CWG… Corruption at the bottom – at the thana level or in the courts. Can you get a driving license made without getting through the dalal? You have paid the court staff to even see your court file? Can you get a government contract without paying good percentages upfront? Nah, I not only doubt, but am pretty certain that exceptions apart, money is the rule of the game.
So if one of us dies, who cares?
Take it easy. We all have our faults. Its not so bad, argue many who always like to see the picture through the prism of air-conditioned logic.
Why blame the system, since it is so rotten and so irreversible that you too have become a part of it. Agreed, we all have paid bribes or resorted to some sort of corruption somewhere. But we have to stand up.
They take advantage of us being disunited. We have to take the responsibility, here and now. It will take a revolution, perhaps a civil war to cleanse this rot. Perhaps, it will take a few decades but lets start. Today! Dayafter we can reap the benefits and not die because the bloody PMs have to suck the nation’s thumb.
This is not the first death due to traffic blockages in place for the PM and that too when he did not take the route. Two other deaths have been reported, one from Chandigarh and another in Kanpur, due to traffic blockades of the PM. Perhaps, this will not be the last, if adequate measures not adopted and soon at that.
Without questioning the need of security for the PM, it raises a pertinent question – Do we value the life of a citizen of the country? If yes, has anyone been held responsible for the deaths? Why has no officer or the PM been held guilty of murder? Who is to blame?
Why can’t we have systems that enable unhindered movement of the PMs and also respect the right of the citizens to live and move freely, and not die or at least reach emergency services in time?
The answer lies in the fact that we do not value the life. A death is just a small news item or a passing mention in the briefs.
We are still living in the mindset of British slavery. Today, in our system, we treat district magistrates as lords and police officials at unbridled dictators. Judges and netas are Gods. Bow down mister, or else…
That leaves us - you and me in a crappy hole. Just run a reality check. We travel in overcrowded buses and metros, bear stench of open nalas, walk in uncleaned streets, beg gas wallahs to deliver our cylinders, traffic is in a mess and we plead cops not to challan … all because most of the bureaucrats and leaders are lethargic, corrupt and work in self-centered mode. Corruption is omni-present and bribe is the way to get your file moving. Governance is in pits. A day in the life of the nation is filled with greed, graft, bribery, dirty money. We are still rated among the most corrupt in the world. Human rights, not the Arundhati-Kashmir variety type, are only for thesis papers.
Corruption at the top – 2G scam, CWG… Corruption at the bottom – at the thana level or in the courts. Can you get a driving license made without getting through the dalal? You have paid the court staff to even see your court file? Can you get a government contract without paying good percentages upfront? Nah, I not only doubt, but am pretty certain that exceptions apart, money is the rule of the game.
So if one of us dies, who cares?
Take it easy. We all have our faults. Its not so bad, argue many who always like to see the picture through the prism of air-conditioned logic.
Why blame the system, since it is so rotten and so irreversible that you too have become a part of it. Agreed, we all have paid bribes or resorted to some sort of corruption somewhere. But we have to stand up.
They take advantage of us being disunited. We have to take the responsibility, here and now. It will take a revolution, perhaps a civil war to cleanse this rot. Perhaps, it will take a few decades but lets start. Today! Dayafter we can reap the benefits and not die because the bloody PMs have to suck the nation’s thumb.
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