The Supreme Court on Monday made it clear that it would not take cognisance of media reports about the statement of Union Communications Minister Kapil Sibal disputing the report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General and saying that no loss was caused to the exchequer in the 2G spectrum allocation. When counsel Prashant Bhushan took exception to the statement made by Mr. Sibal, Justice Singhvi observed, “The issue has now become debatable.”...

Economics is the art of evaluating the cost of the opportunity foregone. This is a delicate skill, as are all things that dabble in what-might-have-been. It is never that difficult, therefore, to over- or underestimate the size of the opportunity cost. In the case of the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the awarding of 2G licences, the figures should certainly be open to debate. They certainly come...

“We are extremely pained at the methodology adopted” The government on Friday described as “utterly erroneous and without any basis” the estimated loss of Rs. 1.76 lakh crore arrived at by the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) on account of allocation of 2G spectrum to telecom operators. “We are extremely pained at the methodology adopted by the CAG for arriving at the [allocation loss] figures that have no basis,” Telecom Minister Kapil...

The CBI's record in the Jain hawala case was disappointing. But there are powerful elements in favour of unravelling the truth in the 2G scam. On December 16, 2010, the Supreme Court (Justices G.S. Singhvi and Asok Kumar Ganguly, ) ordered a comprehensive and thorough investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate into what has become notorious as “the 2G scam.” The investigation, into spectrum allocation from...

Hidden behind all the administrative scandals that rocked India in 2010, illegal mining is an unnoticed beast that has been eating into the country's soul.   While corruption in spectrum allocation and the conduct of the Commonwealth Games are primarily about monetary loot, illegal mining is about invaluable non-renewable natural resources.   In at least five major states, there were more than 20,000 complaints of illegal mining filed, but the perpetrators carried on with...