The controversial CD containing purported conversation between eminent lawyer Shanti Bhushan and political leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh does not seem to have been tampered with and there is continuity in the conversation, police sources said. A senior police official said they have received the report on the CD from the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory (CFSL) located at Lodhi Road. Sources quoting the report said the CD does not seem...

Civil society groups and organisations on Tuesday condemned attempts to malign co-chairman of the Lokpal Bill joint drafting committee Shanti Bhushan and its member Prashant Bhushan. Expressing “full solidarity,” the organisations said they would oppose all efforts to sideline the central issue of establishing a strong and effective mechanism to tackle endemic corruption in the country. Describing Mr. Shanti Bhushan as “a tireless defender of civil liberties and the rule of law,”...

Many Congress leaders feel that it was improper for Anna Hazare and his group to act as the sole conscience keepers of the civil society. The leaders are wondering if Anna Hazare’s letter to Sonia Gandhi, asking her to rein in Kapil Sibal and Digvijay Singh, was prompted by a perception that the Congress duo were expressing views on subjects the activists had monopolised on. Sibal had apparently said in an informal...

A lawyer today petitioned the Supreme Court to scrap the government notification on the joint committee for drawing up the Lok Pal Bill, saying the long-pending legislation couldn’t be “handed over to five people for redrafting”. The public interest petition came nine days after the government issued the April 9 notification announcing the panel of five ministers and five activists in a tactical compromise in the face of mushrooming support for...

Anna Hazare’s group today released purported evidence that the audio CD implicating Shanti Bhushan and his son Prashant was doctored, alleged government involvement and threatened to move the Supreme Court. The development threatens a fresh standoff between the Centre and the civil society members of the Lok Pal Bill drafting committee, which includes both the Bhushans. Prashant and fellow panel member Arvind Kejriwal said they had got the CD examined by two...