Senior advocate Goolam E Vahanvati was appointed as the new Attorney General on Monday, the country's top law officer.
The prime minister wasn't comfortable with the series of events in the coal block allotment scam probe, including the uncontested detailed letter sent by Additional Solicitor General Harin P Raval (who quit on Tuesday) to Attorney General Goolam E Vahanvati recalling every instance much to the embarrassment of the government, reports Rakesh Bhatnagar
The government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that the issue of a chargesheet against Central Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas in a corruption case and the sanction granted by the Kerala government for his prosecution were not brought before the high-powered committee for selecting a candidate for the post.This was stated by Attorney General Goolam E Vahanvati before a bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia.
The Supreme Court on Friday said judges cannot be put under public scrutiny as it would hamper their functioning and independence.
The BCCI has written to Attorney-General Goolam E Vahanvati and former Chief Justice A S Anand to get clarity on the controversial "whereabouts" clause in WADA'S Anti-Doping Code that has been opposed by top cricketers. Eleven cricketers, including captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar, have opposed the clause and have already missed the July 31 deadline to sign the Code.
The government on Friday informed the Supreme Court that it will set aside its order directing scam-hit information technology firm Satyam Computer to pay Rs 617 crore (Rs 6.17 billion) as income tax and will give a fresh hearing to the firm's plea challenging the tax demand.
The office of Attorney General Goolam E Vahanvati has said he had offered advice as solicitor general to the then External Affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and Telecom minister A Raja in 2007 on 2G spectrum issues but it was not written and there is no copy of it.
Solicitor General of India Goolam E Vahanvati appearing for the Department of Telecommunication on Thursday informed the sectoral tribunal TDSAT that on January 10 the government had issued 121 LoIs, of which 120 have already complied with its terms and conditions.
Tribunal Chairman Justice Arun Kumar adjourned the hearing after Solicitor General Goolam E Vahanvati, appearing for the Centre, told the tribunal that "there will be no allocation of spectrum to any player".
"The Union of India will file a petition in the Supreme Court on Saturday which is likely to be heard on Monday," CBI Director Ranjit Sinha told PTI.
The Centre on Thursday admitted before the Supreme Court that something went wrong with the coal blocks allocation and that it could have been done in a more refined manner.
Stepping up pressure, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday demanded Prime Minister Manmohan's Singh resignation after the Centre admitted before the Supreme Court that something went wrong with coal blocks allocations.
Rahul met the prime minister for about 30 minutes before the party group chaired by Congress President Sonia Gandhi with the prime minister by her side began deliberations at Dr Singh's residence.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up advocate Prashant Bhushan for making "disturbing" remarks against the bench hearing the coal-gate case, but later accepted his apology.
The Telangana Bill, which was rejected by the Andhra Pradesh assembly on January 30, will return to the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday along with six bundles containing 8,049 amendments.
The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to resolve within a week all disputes arising out of the issue of invoking anti-piracy law against two Italian marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen off Kerala coast in 2012.
The panel's claim assumes significance as it was Pillai, few months ago, who alleged that Chidambaram as home minister 'bypassed him' and had rewritten the affidavit.