There can be little question that the news media, print as well as television, have contributed significantly to bringing the issue of corruption to political India's centre stage. The focus on the corruption of elections through ‘cash for votes' comes in tandem with the proactive intervention by the Election Commission of India during the April-May elections to State Assemblies. There can also be little doubt that the U.S. Embassy Cables,...

A Jharkhand High Court whip, issued to the CBI two months back, has put Fodder Scam cases against former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra on the fast track. The CBI, which has been handling as many as 53 Fodder Scam cases for one and half decades, is now under pressure to complete investigations in the 15 pending cases, of which five involve the two former chief ministers and...

The new CBI director has promised to speed up investigations into corruption cases being handled by the agency in Jharkhand, including the ones faced by former chief minister Madhu Koda and pending Fodder Scam cases against RJD chief Lalu Prasad. Soon after assuming charge, the Jharkhand cadre 1974-batch IPS officer Amar Pratap Singh said he would ensure that these corruption cases got more attention. “We will see that investigations and trials...