The Supreme Court came down upon the CBI once more on Wednesday for not taking action on the recorded conversations of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia with influential persons, including corporate executives, politicians and journalists, despite possessing them for five years.
A bench headed by Justice G.S. Singhvi said the telephonic conversations are of very serious nature and pertain to other issues too apart from the 2G spectrum allocation scam, such as cross-border transactions. The bench asked why no action has been taken yet when it was clear in 2009 that prima facie there was an element of criminality in the conversations. The top court said the conversations pertain to multiple issues that were sidelined by the government agencies which entirely focused on those portions that pertained to the 2G scam.
On the contents of the conversations, the bench said that they indicate presence of middlemen in every government department. “Virtually in every government field, private persons — you call them liasoning officers or middlemen — are present in every nook and corner,” it said.
The court said that the conversations are much more than 2G issue and not confined only to the telecom sector.
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PM urges BJP to back Bangla pact
Age Correspondent
New Delhi, Aug. 7
Senior BJP leaders who met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday raised with the PM defence minister’s A.K. Antony’s statement in Parliament on the five soldiers killed by Pakistani troops on Tuesday.
The meeting had been called to convince the BJP to back the Land Boundary Agreement with Bangladesh.
The PM explained to the BJP leaders the need to support the Land Boundary Agreement for whose implementation the government is planning to bring a constitution amendment bill before Parliament during the ongoing Monsoon Session.
The PM, apart from detailing benefits of the agreement, also told the BJP leaders that Bangladesh has “extended fullest cooperation to India in several areas related to our national interest”.
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‘Can debate food bill concerns in House’
Age Correspondent
New Delhi, Aug. 7
Food minister K.V. Thomas on Wednesday said any concern on the Food Security Bill could be debated upon when it comes up for discussion in the House. AIADMK member M. Thambidurai opposed introduction of the bill, saying it is against the Constitution and federal system. “It is not the Food Security Bill, it is actually Food Insecurity Bill,” he said, adding it should be brought only after consultations with states. Contending that the bill has “several flaws that have created serious apprehensions”, the AIADMK member said the legislation amounts to “interfering with state governments”. Mr Thambidurai said the bill will affect his state where a universal scheme for providing subsidised food is already being implemented “successfully” by the state government.
DMK leader T.R. Baalu also said his party has issues with the bill in its present form and would move amendments. “It should not be detrimental to the state’s off-take (of food),” he said, noting that the proposed legislation will have far-reaching implications.