Demanding an inquiry into the purchase of 111 new aircraft by national carrier Air India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said the proposal was the root cause of the airline's financial woes.
"I respect the judgment of the Supreme Court and I accept my responsibility," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh responded on Friday, a day after the apex court struck down the controversial appointment of P J Thomas as the Central Vigilance Commissioner.
Embattled Central Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas on Monday side-stepped questions about him continuing in office in the wake of a corruption case against him, saying he was still the CVC. "I am still the CVC. The matter is in court. So no comments," said Thomas. The Supreme Court is hearing a PIL by the NGO Centre for Public Interest represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan, questioning the legality of the CVC's appointment by a three-member selection committee.
Interestingly, the Congress party has also washed its hands off the entire episode saying the issue was between the government and the Supreme Court and it was for the law officers to make the position clear. "Where does the Congress come in the picture?" asked Janardhan Dwivedi who heads the AICC media department.
Slamming the government, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj termed as "untruth" its claim that the charges against Central Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas was not brought before the high-powered selection committee of which she was a member and said she would approach the Supreme Court in this regard.
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 government on Tuesday hit back at the Bharatiya Janata Party on the appointment of PJ Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner saying the party did nothing when it was in power on sanctioning prosecution against him, as they could find any evidence against him.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Kerala government to go ahead with the trial in the multi-crore Palmolein oil scam involving Chief Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas and former chief minister K Karunakaran. A bench of Justices Aftab Alam and R M Lodha gave the green signal after treating Karunakaran's appeal as 'abated' in view of his death on December 23 last year. The Kerala government had earlier moved the apex court seeking vacation of its stay on the trial.
"It is amusing to note that P J Thomas,whose appointment as the Central Vigilance Commissioner is under a shadow, should be delivering the key note address on corruption at a seminar organized by his own department. This is the height of defence of corruption," Naqvi told rediff.com.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh if he was aware of the cases against P J Thomas before the collegium appointed him as the Central Vigilance Commissioner.The BJP sought to know from the government why documents related to the charge-sheet in the Palmolein case in Kerala and those related to Thomas' efforts at 'covering up' the 2G spectrum allocation were not brought to the notice of the appointing collegium.
Central Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas is likely to step down from the post ahead of a Supreme Court hearing on Monday over his controversial appointment. Sources said that it was only a question of time before he sends his resignation -- may be as early as Saturday -- to President Pratibha Patil, who was his appointing authority.
The Supreme Court said it would examine whether vigilance commissioners R Sri Kumar and J M Garg could be entrusted with the job of supervising the Central Bureau of Investigation probe in the 2G Spectrum scam.
Even as the United Progressive Alliance government battles protests by Opposition BJP over the selection of Telecom Secretary PJ Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner, it has now been stung by one of its allies, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which is reportedly upset over the lack of courtesy extended by the government on the appointment.
The Bhartiya Janata Party lashed out at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday over the selection of Telecom Secretary P J Thomas as the new Central Vigilance Commissioner. The Opposition party claimed that the Centre had appointed Thomas to scuttle the ongoing probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the Rs 60,000 crore spectrum scam. The BJP urged President Pratibha Patil to cancel the appointment of Thomas, who will be administered the oath of office by her.
As P J Thomas maintained that he has not resigned from the post of central vigilance commissioner, the government on Friday said he no more holds the Constitutional post whether he quits or not. "Where is the question of resigning? There is no need. The Supreme Court itself said it. So there is no question. He cannot continue," said Law Minister M Veerappa Moily. He said at the most, the government would issue a notification saying the post of CVC was vacant.
Soon after the incident, the police took cognisance of the video and initiated a probe, Meena said.
"If Swaraj files her affidavit before the court and exposes Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram, they would be stripped before the court," Vittal said.
Controversial Central Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas on Monday told the Supreme Court that the corruption charges levelled against him to question his appointment as CVC was a fall out of a political battle in Kerala and that he was a person of "high integrity". He also contended that there was no violation of any norms in his appointment as the CVC and that he had no role in the controversial allocation of 2G spectrum in 2008.
Beleaguered Central Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas on Thursday got the backing of one of his predecessors N Vittal, who said there is no need for him to resign.
Controversial Central Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas is likely to continue at least till January 27, the date fixed by the Supreme Court for hearing a plea seeking his removal from the key post, sources in Congress said. The ruling party also attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party for trying to give its 'own verdict' on the CVC issue even before the apex court could decide the matter."The BJP can say anything. BJP wants an interim action," said a Cong leader.
G-VIC is inspired by global high technology innovation clusters such as the Silicon Valley in the US, Hsinchu in Taiwan, Tsukuba in Japan and Sofia Antipolis in France. It has been conceptualised and is led by leading professionals from diverse fields. The company, chaired by former central vigilance commissioner N Vittal, is in close talks with international firms to partner the project.
Kharge termed the high-level committee constituted by the Centre to examine the feasibility of 'One Nation, One Election' a 'gimmick' and alleged the Modi government wants to slowly replace democracy in India with dictatorship.
There is no need for increased superintendence over the CBI in the aftermath of the coal blocks allocation and 2G scam cases, CVC K V Chowdary said on Sunday.
The traffic police also issued an advisory in view of the protest planned outside the BJP office at the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, while entry and exit have been disallowed at the nearest ITO metro station.
The SC on Monday transferred the entire Central Bureau of Investigation case file to the CVC.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has become the first Indian firm by formally entering into a memorandum of understanding with Transparency International India to institutionalise transparency in its public procurement practices.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said he would raise India's concerns on terrorism when he meets Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in Havana next week on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement Summit.
According to the cause list of August 20 uploaded on the apex court website, a bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra is scheduled to hear on Tuesday.
'In the end, officials in India will be thrown to the wolves, quietly released a couple of years down the road and we'll never hear about them again.'
Gandhi questioned why it was keeping the posts of RTI commissioner, Lokpal and chief vigilance commissioner vacant.
A 14-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by three persons in Assam's Nagaon district, triggering massive protests by people on the streets.
A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh, which issued notice on the plea of the Congress against the March 13 high court order, however, said the ITAT can proceed on the political party's appeal.
While Lok Sabha Speaker is yet to decide on Leader of Opposition, the Centre on Monday went ahead with the process of appointment of Central Vigilance Commissioner and sought nominations of eligible candidates from all secretaries.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla recognised Rahul Gandhi as the leader of opposition on Wednesday, a day after the Congress communicated its decision to name him for the position to the Lok Sabha Secretariat.
The situation in and around Lailapur, which was rocked by deadly violence, along the interstate border remained calm with a large number of Central Reserve Police Force troops patrolling the National Highway-306, they said.
Police said there were intelligence inputs that attempts would be made to trigger violence during the match, because of which it was cancelled.
According to sources U S Misra, IPS officer of 1968 batch from Orissa cadre, is among the frontrunners.
After the Centre implemented the CAA on Monday, notifying the rules four years after the contentious law was passed, police in Delhi's northeast district identified 43 hotspots and conducted patrols there.
