Some senior Congress leaders, including Kapil Sibal and Shashi Tharoor, met at their senior colleague Ghulam Nabi Azad's house in New Delhi on Monday evening after the Congress Working Committee debated their letter to the party's interim chief Sonia Gandhi seeking urgent organisational reforms.
The letter was not a challenge to leadership but a parchment of action to strengthen the party, Congress MP Vivek Tankha asserted, while former union minister Mukul Wasnik said those who saw the letter as an "offence" will also soon realise that the issues raised are worth consideration.
"I do not want to boast (about) anything. The court's judgment has to be respected. I am glad that the court has pronounced unambiguously. All the massive propaganda which was being done against the UPA was without any foundation. The judgment speaks for itself," the former PM said.
Special judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar was informed by the Enforcement Directorate that Chidambaram's arrest in the INX Media money laundering case is necessary but it will be done at an appropriate time.
A bench comprising justices L Nageswara Rao and Aniruddha Bose closed the criminal case against the lawmaker after holding that his speech did not fulfill the ingredients to attract the offenses for which he has been charged.
The Supreme Court on Monday allowed Congress MP Karti Chidambaram, who is facing criminal cases that are being probed by the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation, to travel abroad.
The meeting of the Congress' top decision-making body has been convened after demands from some quarters within the party to discuss important issues, including some defections in the recent past.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana ordered status quo in the present situation, and said the petition would be listed before an appropriate bench.
The apex court in November 2009, had issued contempt notice to Bhushan and Tejpal for allegedly casting aspersions on some sitting and former top court judges in an interview to a news magazine.
The Congress on Friday called senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad's resignation 'unfortunate' and termed the timing 'awful', saying it has come at a time when the party is engaged in combating the Bharatiya Janata Party on various issues.
Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani said that he was not "comfortable" with the present draft clarification given by the yoga guru, remarking that it seemed "more like a pat on the back" and a justification.
Dominic Xavier wonders if the Congress will ever see happy days again.
