Among the people who are waiting for the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (OC) to settle their accounts is the Delhi Lokayukta, Justice Manmohan Sarin. Justice Sarin and the OC are in a dispute over the security deposit for a house in Panchsheel Enclave that he had rented out to accommodate foreign delegates. Justice Sarin has not returned Rs 5.36 lakh out of the refundable security deposit of Rs 8.25 lakh to the...

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...

Mining companies and political leaders in the State allegedly involved in illegal mining are growing anxious. Not only is the Lokayukta's final report to be submitted soon, but they are also worried about certain sealed documents submitted by the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to the Forest Bench of the Supreme Court. Samaj Parivartana Samudaya (SPS) (an organisation of the National Committee for Protection of Natural Resources (NCPNR)), which has filed a...

-PTI   After a not so pleasant experience of engaging with Anna Hazare's team in drafting of the Lok Pal Bill, the government says that there will be no such experiment in the future. HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, one of the key members of the joint committee for drafting the Lok Pal Bill, also maintains that it cannot be cited as a precedent. He says the draft of the bill will undergo changes...

-The Business Standard   Hazare's job is done, time now for people's representatives The term “civil society” has been used and abused at will these past few months in India. In a clever coup staged with the active involvement of a section of the media, a clutch of social activists and retired civil servants was allowed to project itself as “a representative of civil society”. A confused government, a directionless ruling alliance...