There is nothing sinister or diabolic about Union minister Kapil Sibal’s latest argument regarding the findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India pertaining to the loss to the exchequer from 2G telecom licences in 2007. The basic argument pertaining to the erroneous notion of “presumptive loss” has been made before and Mr Sibal’s arithmetic is credible. Too much need not be made about this being a ministerial...

For his contribution in drafting the statute The Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Vichar Manch has appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to honour Dr. Ambedkar with the title ‘Father of the Indian Constitution' on Republic Day. In a letter to the Prime Minister, general secretary of the Manch R.L. Kain pointed out that the organisation was representing the feelings of millions of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and Buddhists that Dr. Ambedkar should...

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Friday described as “highly unfortunate” the Supreme Court judgment upholding the Kerala High Court order banning public meetings and rallies on roadsides. The ruling, coupled with earlier restrictions on demonstrations and strikes, did not augur well for a democracy, the party's Polit Bureau said in a statement. It was a common practice for political parties and other public organisations to hold meetings on roadsides. Since...

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...

State's appeal against High Court order dismissed The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the judgment of the Kerala High Court prohibiting public meetings by the roadsides in the State. A Bench of Justice D.K. Jain and Justice H.L. Dattu dismissed an appeal filed by the State government against the judgment of the High Court and a subsequent petition seeking a review of the judgment. The Bench said it was not inclined to...