Am gonna speak about a case that had created a furore when it first hit the headlines and have just ended in a whimper after finding its way through the courts. The accused have also been acquitted and hence the relevance. The Public Accounts Committee(PAC), headed by Murli Manohar Joshi in its draft report, had indicted A Raja for his dubious designs and wayward actions that brought about a loss of Rs.1.76 lakh crores to the exchequer!
The 2G Spectrum Scam.
Many people have demanded an apology from Vinod Rai, the former CAG, who had brought
forth the issue about the massive 2G Spectrum scam while in office. It was because the trial court
had acquitted the former telecom minister A Raja and others in the 2G Spectrum allocation scam.
The Supreme Court had confined itself to evidence, records, witnesses and discussions, all within
the court premises. While the auditor was looking at the irregularities of government procedure,
the Court was looking at the legal aspect of change in the goal posts.....independent of the CAG
findings and cancelled the licences.
The CBI examined criminal intent, acts of omission. It based itself entirely on the evidence
brought to it by the prosecution. And it observed a 'miserable failure of criminal investigation'.
The team of auditors, if asked to work on the records pertaining to the case, will come up with
the same conclusions, asserts Vinod Rai!
* So have no wrong been done with regard to the 2G Spectrum allocation?
* Were A Raja and his team drawn into a false case?
* How did the CAG come to such startling conclusions?
* Why isn't an appeal against the verdict, along with strong evidence and an effective
prosecution, being filed?
The questions will linger on.......
* * *
The Furore Over No Audits by the CAG
The LDF government has got no answers to the opposition leader, Ramesh Chennithala's charges
that mandatory CAG audits of the KIIFB(Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board) and the KIAL(Kannur International Airport Ltd) have been done away with, by the government, to hide massive corruption.
In fact, this was the charge that was highlighted during the just completed by poll for the Assembly seat of Pala. Along with it, the corruption and anomalies behind the Kerala State Electricity Board's(KSEB) TransGrid project has also come out at the most inopportune moment for the Kerala government.
The exit poll, conducted by the Asianet, gives a comfortable win for the UDF in Pala, where the by poll was necessitated due to the passing away of the state's former Finance Minister KM Mani, a few months ago. Seeing the bitter fight within the two factions of the Kerala Congress(Mani) party - Pala is the seat of the party - and sensing a sure shot LDF victory, the chief minister had raised the stakes on the by election by saying that it would be a referendum on the performance of his government! Will he rue his words?
And will the government finally agree to the CAG audits in the KIIFB and the KIAL? Will depend on the pressure that the opposition puts.....
* * *
A query that crept into my mind after seeing the 'Howdy Modi' programme in Houston, "Did our Prime Minister have to endorse President Donald Trump for his re-election?" Probably, it was a sudden reaction to the manner in which Trump had wholeheartedly participated in the programme, underlining their strong friendship. And one would go out of the way for one's friend, huh!
Tailpiece.
The work on the brake assembly on our Chevy was nearing completion by evening and will take about an hour more, tomorrow morning, before it is test driven.
And today, it rained in phases.
PS.
Today, the chief minister was at Guruvayur to inaugurate a slew of projects that were starting or finishing, in and around the temple town. There was a farce played at the eastern entrance of the temple where he stood watching the deity(Without folding hands; a communist can't afford to do it, you see!) - he was received by an array of caparisoned elephants, pilgrims were blocked from entering the sanctum santorum during the period and the government programme was organised at the Melpathoor auditorium, which hosts only socio-cultural programmes. Our political leaders behave worse than royalty of yore!
The 2G Spectrum Scam.
Many people have demanded an apology from Vinod Rai, the former CAG, who had brought
forth the issue about the massive 2G Spectrum scam while in office. It was because the trial court
had acquitted the former telecom minister A Raja and others in the 2G Spectrum allocation scam.
The Supreme Court had confined itself to evidence, records, witnesses and discussions, all within
the court premises. While the auditor was looking at the irregularities of government procedure,
the Court was looking at the legal aspect of change in the goal posts.....independent of the CAG
findings and cancelled the licences.
The CBI examined criminal intent, acts of omission. It based itself entirely on the evidence
brought to it by the prosecution. And it observed a 'miserable failure of criminal investigation'.
The team of auditors, if asked to work on the records pertaining to the case, will come up with
the same conclusions, asserts Vinod Rai!
* So have no wrong been done with regard to the 2G Spectrum allocation?
* Were A Raja and his team drawn into a false case?
* How did the CAG come to such startling conclusions?
* Why isn't an appeal against the verdict, along with strong evidence and an effective
prosecution, being filed?
The questions will linger on.......
* * *
The Furore Over No Audits by the CAG
The LDF government has got no answers to the opposition leader, Ramesh Chennithala's charges
that mandatory CAG audits of the KIIFB(Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board) and the KIAL(Kannur International Airport Ltd) have been done away with, by the government, to hide massive corruption.
In fact, this was the charge that was highlighted during the just completed by poll for the Assembly seat of Pala. Along with it, the corruption and anomalies behind the Kerala State Electricity Board's(KSEB) TransGrid project has also come out at the most inopportune moment for the Kerala government.
The exit poll, conducted by the Asianet, gives a comfortable win for the UDF in Pala, where the by poll was necessitated due to the passing away of the state's former Finance Minister KM Mani, a few months ago. Seeing the bitter fight within the two factions of the Kerala Congress(Mani) party - Pala is the seat of the party - and sensing a sure shot LDF victory, the chief minister had raised the stakes on the by election by saying that it would be a referendum on the performance of his government! Will he rue his words?
And will the government finally agree to the CAG audits in the KIIFB and the KIAL? Will depend on the pressure that the opposition puts.....
* * *
A query that crept into my mind after seeing the 'Howdy Modi' programme in Houston, "Did our Prime Minister have to endorse President Donald Trump for his re-election?" Probably, it was a sudden reaction to the manner in which Trump had wholeheartedly participated in the programme, underlining their strong friendship. And one would go out of the way for one's friend, huh!
Tailpiece.
The work on the brake assembly on our Chevy was nearing completion by evening and will take about an hour more, tomorrow morning, before it is test driven.
And today, it rained in phases.
PS.
Today, the chief minister was at Guruvayur to inaugurate a slew of projects that were starting or finishing, in and around the temple town. There was a farce played at the eastern entrance of the temple where he stood watching the deity(Without folding hands; a communist can't afford to do it, you see!) - he was received by an array of caparisoned elephants, pilgrims were blocked from entering the sanctum santorum during the period and the government programme was organised at the Melpathoor auditorium, which hosts only socio-cultural programmes. Our political leaders behave worse than royalty of yore!
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