The Supreme Court today asked central vigilance commissioner P.J. Thomas to explain why his appointment as head of the country’s top anti-corruption watchdog shouldn’t be scrapped even as the embattled bureaucrat hung on to his post. The notices to Thomas and the central government were a first from the court, which had so far only questioned Thomas’s appointment as CVC for his alleged involvement in a palm oil import case. The vigilance...

Notice to Centre, CBI and Outlook and Open magazines The Supreme Court on Thursday decided to examine industrialist Ratan Tata's petition, which alleged that publication of the tapes of his private conversations with corporate lobbyist Nira Radia had infringed his right to privacy, and issued notice to the Union government, the CBI and the Outlook and Open magazines, seeking their response in 10 days. A Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and A.K....

Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar today said the government should take note of Ratan Tata’s statement that India risked turning into a “banana republic” and cautioned against the excessive use of the CBI. Pawar’s statement came in the middle of a CBI crackdown on an alleged bribes-for-loans scandal involving several top financial officials and real estate players in Maharashtra. Another real estate project, which was once associated with Pawar’s relatives, has been...

Central Vigilance Commissioner PJ Thomas will send in his resignation to the President on Wednesday. With the Supreme Court and the Opposition piling up pressure on the Centre for the removal of the ‘tainted’ CVC, the government leadership has advised Thomas to vacate the post. Thomas continuance became untenable on Tuesday after the Supreme Court questioned his suitability to supervise CBI’s investigations into the 2G spectrum scandal. “He had justified the...

The Centre today ordered a probe into the leak of lobbyist Niira Radia’s purported phone conversations allegedly tapped by the income tax department. The home ministry announced the probe on the same day Tata group chairman Ratan Tata moved the Supreme Court demanding action against people responsible for leaking the contents of tapes. The Radia tapes feature purported conversations she had with journalists, politicians and industrialists, including Tata. A home ministry spokesperson...