The Group of Ministers tasked to suggest ways to curb corruption in public life is weighing a constitutional amendment to fast-track the trials of officials indicted for graft. Sources said changes could be incorporated in Article 311 of the Constitution (dealing with dismissal, removal or demotion of government officials) to provide for summary proceedings in cases of grave misdemeanour or blatant corruption. Also under consideration are amendments to the Prevention of Corruption...

The Supreme Court on Friday slammed Communications Minister Kapil Sibal for his remark that the official auditor's report was "utterly erroneous" in assessing the loss on award of telecom spectrum at Rs.1.76 lakh crore ($40 billion). "It is unfortunate," said the apex court bench of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice A.K. Ganguly. The court said the minister must be more responsible and directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to proceed with...

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 Manmohan Singh government is digging an even bigger hole for itself by claiming there was no loss of revenue from the sweetheart sale of 2G spectrum to favoured corporate houses. “Milord,” cunning lawyers have argued in countless Hindi movies, “how can there have been a murder when there is no dead body?” I was reminded of this line when I heard Kapil Sibal — who has been performing as an...

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...