Legal tangles in investigation

'We seem to be reliving the sleaziest days of the 1980s,' says T V R Shenoy. 'Defence purchases are made under controversial circumstances, and nobody is held accountable.' 'Shoddy staffwork leads to suspects leaving India, and it is virtually impossible to lay hands on them again once they are out.' 'The same shabby acts of commission and omission. The same stale excuses...' Does anything link the ongoing scandal over the purchase of the AgustaWestland AW 101s and the escape of Massimiliano ...

Did the principal secretary to the prime minister authorise the controversial meeting a joint secretary at the PMO had at the CBI headquarters to discuss the coal scam report, asks T V R Shenoy. 'The heart of the report was changed on the suggestion of government officials,' the Supreme Court observed on May 8, 2013, referring to the CBI report on the Coal Allotment Scam. Three questions arise. Who was the surgeon? In which hospital was the heart transplanted? And when was the operation carried ...

'If the BJP government in Karnataka's activities fostered dissidence, the Gadkari era saw the same sin crop up elsewhere, notably in Uttarakhand.' 'Gadkari's leadership saw the BJP drift away from its moral moorings,' argues T V R Shenoy. 2013 is my 48th straight year as a journalist in Delhi. But right now my memory is rolling back the decades, back to when I had been working in the capital for 'just' ten years, specifically to June 12, 1975.May 8, 2013 started with the results of the ...

'On April 30, the Supreme Court spoke on the need to further insulate the CBI from political interference.' 'Come May 8, perhaps their Lordships could also extend protection to the law officers too -- simultaneously sending out the message that the Attorney General is much more than a professional doing his duty to the ministry of the day, that he owes a higher duty as an officer of the court,' says T V R Shenoy. The Bar Council of India's Web site lays out the professional standards expected ...

Mamata Banerjee has announced a Rs 500 crore relief package to assuage those who lost their money to the Saradha chit fund. As West Bengal is dancing on the edge of bankruptcy, this money will be raised from taxes on tobacco. Having already seen their savings go up in smoke the people of West Bengal must now puff away whatever is left, says T V R Shenoy. Was Nalini Chidambaram, wife of Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, paid one crore rupees (Rs 10 million) in a Rs 42 crore (Rs 4210 million) ...

Ice manufacturers have said that they cannot meet the approved water quality standards for making ice because of the expense involved in installing water treatment units. Ice plants depend on water supplied by tanker lorries or drawn from borewells ...

An interesting battle is on the cards in the Karkala Assembly Constituency in Udupi district. Karkala is well-known for giving a Chief Minister to the State M. Veerappa Moily. Mr. Moily, who is now the Union Petroleum Minister, represented Karkala ...

It's the clash of the businessmen a real estate developer versus an owner of a conglomerate in the Mangalore North Assembly constituency. Stretching from Kodical to Surathkal and up till Kunjathbail, the constituency throws up a multitude of ...

It is common practice for the ruling party to take up 'development works' ahead of elections to influence voters. Attempting to put an end to this, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has frozen 1,970 schemes worth Rs. 522.95 crore.