The Centre on Monday strongly defended the appointment of controversial bureaucrat P J Thomas, facing a corruption case in a Kerala court, as central vigilance commissioner, saying he was an "outstanding officer" with "impeccable integrity". In an affidavit in the Supreme Court cleared by Attorney General G E Vahanvati, government also said there was no need for "consensus" of the three-member high powered committee on CVC's appointment. While Prime Minister Manmohan Singh...

The National Fishermen's Federation (NFF) has expressed displeasure over the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification (CRZ), 2011, in its present form, and accused Union Minister of Environment and Forests (MoEF) Jairam Ramesh of having taken the organisation for a ride by not incorporating some of the provisions that had been agreed upon in the talks between the Ministry and NFF representatives ahead of the notification. Matanhy Saldanha, chairman of the NFF, on...

The Supreme Court has paved the way for start of trial in the Palmolein oil import scam. CVC J Thomas is an accused in the case. The apex court disposed the petition filed by K Karunakaran after his death. With this the interim order staying the trial also becomes ineffective. K Karunakaran, who was four times chief minister of Kerala, died in December last year. The case relates to the alleged loss of...

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...

After Congress chief Sonia Gandhi mooted a five-point plan at the recent AICC plenary session to put in place a system to confront corruption, the Centre is considering an ordinance to tighten the anti-corruption regime against politicians. The Congress core group on Friday discussed the possibility of the new law which would tighten the rules to punish corrupt politicians and counter the popular belief that the system was created to benefit...