If actions speak louder than words, then the government has just spoken loud and clear. There could be no stronger indication of the government’s lack of serious intent in building an effective anti-corruption regime than the decision to remove the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) law. Without any discussion in the public domain, the government has decided to use Section 24 of...
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Lokpal bill and the Prime Minister by Anil Divan
When the basic structure of the Constitution denies the Prime Minister immunity from prosecution, how could it be argued that the office should not be brought under the scrutiny of the Lokpal? The Indian citizenry is up in arms against corruption at the highest levels of government. Anna Hazare's movement has caught the people's imagination. The former President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, has pitched in and called upon the youth to start...
More »Poles apart by V Venkatesan
The Joint Lokpal Bill Drafting Committee concludes its meetings without any agreement on major issues. ON June 21, as the five government representatives and the five civil society members of the Joint Lokpal Bill Drafting Committee ended their deliberations after exchanging their versions of the draft Lokpal Bill, the battle lines were clearly drawn. The government was in no mood to agree with the civil society members led by Anna...
More »4 pvt firms helped Kalaignar TV repay Swan's Rs 200 cr: CBI by Neeraj Chauhan
Probing the trail of Rs 200 crore, which was paid to Kalaignar TV by Swan Telecom in the 2G spectrum scam, the CBI has now reached at the doors of four private companies including UB Group and India Cements. While the names of the other two companies could not be ascertained, CBI officials said the four had facilitated payments to Kalaignar TV to help it repay Rs 200 crore to Swan. "We...
More »Is the government serious about dealing with corruption? by Team Anna
The Lokpal is designed to be a comprehensive anti-corruption institution independent of the government, empowered to effectively investigate corruption of all public servants. But most of the critical elements in this vision have been rejected. The latest draft report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on hydrocarbon production sharing contracts and the transfer of oilfields to Reliance is only the latest of the mega scams to surface in...
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