Bharat Rakshak

However, consider the following facts:

The United Nations Convention against Corruption was adopted by the UN General Assembly in October 2003 and came into force in December 2005 after ratification by the requisite number of States. Notably, India was not one of them;
The Government of India ratified the Convention under duress in May 2011. It had become difficult for it to explain its refusal to do so while the Supreme Court was seized of a PIL against its failure to ferret out trillions of dollars in black money stashed away in foreign tax havens;
Significantly, before ratifying the Convention, the Indian government took ample care to sign the Avoidance of Double Taxation Treaty with the Swiss government which essentially is meant to benefit legitimate income of licit businesses in either country;
Most importantly, the above Treaty specifically bars the Indian government to seek any information of financial transactions in the Swiss banks prior to April 1, 2011;
The government, while ratifying the UN Convention against Corruption, specifically said that it would seek legal assistance not under the above Convention, but under bilateral agreements (such as the one it bilaterally signed with the Swiss).

Put simply, the Government of India signed the Convention against Corruption under intense public and judicial pressure more than five years after it had become operative.

And while so doing, it omitted the most meaty part which would have enabled it to seek information from governments in tax havens about Indians keeping black money accounts in those countries.

Most sinister was the fact that while signing the Double Taxation avoidance protocol with the Swiss authorities it pointedly, and voluntarily, surrendered the right to seek information about black money accounts opened and maintained before April 1, 2011.

In other words, the government has provided a blanket security net to all those Indians who had stashed away hordes of black money in Swiss secret accounts before the coming into force of the Double Taxation Treaty.

Considering that there was an estimated Rs 10 lakh crore (Rs 10 trillion) of Indian money stolen and kept in foreign tax havens, the United Progressive Alliance government with one stroke of its tainted pen has granted immunity to tax-evaders who had stashed the loot in tax havens.

Also, generators and keepers of black money were not only duly alerted by the public outcry against monies stashed away in foreign tax havens.

The Government of India most gratuitously moved the extra mile to protect their interests by enshrining in the agreement with the Swiss that it would have no right to ask any questions about secret accounts opened prior to April 1, 2011.

With such a black money-friendly agreement with the Swiss, can any moneybag have any reason to complain against 'honest' Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government?

However, the way the Germans have pursued the tax evaders, and made the Swiss pay the requisite amount of tax on money kept by their citizens in Swiss banks is a sterling example for any government keen to unearth black money of its citizens lying in foreign tax havens.

The Germans threatened to have Switzerland blacklisted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The Swiss banks, incidentally, would deduct the entire amount of tax paid by them to the German government from the illicit accounts held in their banks by German citizens.

Meanwhile, the UPA government still refuses to disclose the names of Indians holding illegal accounts in the Liechtenstein bank which were furnished by the German government more than three years ago.

As they say, where there is a will, there is a way. Well, the Congress-led government, clearly, lacked the will to go after those who had been stashing away billions stolen from Indian taxpayers and keeping them in foreign tax havens.

But, nonetheless we must doff our non-existent hat to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. For, he is honest.

Going against its long-standing practice of not acknowledging Independence Day, the DMK, whose ideological foundation was firmed up on an anti-Congress plank, joined in the celebrations along with millions across the country. For the first time in the history of its 62 years of existence, the party unfurled the national tricolour on Independence Day at Anna Arivalayam, the party’s headquarters in Chennai. DMK organising secretary and MP TKS Elangovan hoisted the national flag and hundreds of DMK cadres participated in the function. The celebration came as a surprise to many DMK seniors. But the move could well be a shrewd strategy to flaunt nationalism at a time when the Anna Hazare movement is catching up and the mood of the nation appears to be against corruption, feel a section within the party. Others say it could be a gesture to project itself on the national forum, weakened as it is after its defeat in the state elections.

sum wrote:At least one more good side effect of the 2G and AH saga:
DMK unfurls tricolour for the first time !

Going against its long-standing practice of not acknowledging Independence Day, the DMK, whose ideological foundation was firmed up on an anti-Congress plank, joined in the celebrations along with millions across the country. For the first time in the history of its 62 years of existence, the party unfurled the national tricolour on Independence Day at Anna Arivalayam, the party’s headquarters in Chennai. DMK organising secretary and MP TKS Elangovan hoisted the national flag and hundreds of DMK cadres participated in the function. The celebration came as a surprise to many DMK seniors. But the move could well be a shrewd strategy to flaunt nationalism at a time when the Anna Hazare movement is catching up and the mood of the nation appears to be against corruption, feel a section within the party. Others say it could be a gesture to project itself on the national forum, weakened as it is after its defeat in the state elections.

The time has come to sift facts and evidence from rhetoric in the 2G case, as the special CBI court will do on September 15.

A couple of things, though, are clear. One, the CBI has not been able to establish a money trail between Unitech Wireless and jailed ex-telecom minister A Raja to establish a quid pro quo. Two, it hasn't established a quid pro quo against Reliance Telecom either, nor has its chargesheet alleged any benefit to it. The CBI concluded its arguments on Monday before special CBI judge OP Saini, saying there was sufficient "prima facie" evidence against the 17 accused to prosecute them under various provisions of the IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act.

Gus wrote:kazhagam...upping the ante. this tamasha is too much. How many lawmakers are under investigation or in jail..must be a record.

2G: SC asks Swamy to place documents on plea to probe PC .

Thursday, 08 September 2011 19:20 New Delhi | PTI ..

The Supreme Court today sought from Janata Party Chief Subramanium Swamy all his correspondence with CBI in connection with his plea to investigate P Chidambaram for his alleged role in the 2G Spectrum allocation scam.
......

A Finance Ministry document, released throught RTI has cast doubts over the role of Home Minister P Chidambaram in 2G spectrum scam.
The 14-page note, prepared by a senior bureaucrat in the finance ministry and sanctioned by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, suggests that home minister Chidambaram did not do enough check the scam. The note says Chidambaram could have "stuck to the stand" of an auction of the spectrum.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee approved the note after personally inspecting the 11-page document, The Finance Ministry note sent in March 2011, has been accessed by RTI activist Vivek Garg.

The note categorically states that the Department of Telecom (DoT) would have been forced to cancel the 2G licences doled out by Raja, had the finance Ministry stuck to auctioning the initial 'start-up spectrum' of 4.4 megahertz each allotted to the 2008 licensees.

The note alos suggests that the finance ministry under Chidambaram "implicitly agreed to imposition of same entry fee as that prevailing in 2001 for licences allotted upto December 31, 2008."

This despite a November 22, 2007 note by then finance secretary and present RBI Governor D Subbarao, that the 2001 mobile licence entry fee of Rs 1600 crore had been applied and not the market price at that time.

chaanakya wrote:Pranab note casts shadow on Chidambaram

Looks like Chidambaram would become co-acused in 2G scam. CBI, under control of MHA, is opposing fresh investigation.How long would it take for MMS to get involved in this?

Click here for full text of the note

SNIP....

In politics, you can deal with your detractors in one of two ways: you can confront them directly and deliver a knock-out punch. Or you can sneakily administer death by a thousand cuts.

In the political tug-of-war within the UPA between Pranab Mukherjee and P Chidambaram, Pranab-da has thus far preferred to slow-bleed Chidu. Now that it’s all coming out in the open, with the latest revelations that effectively tie Chidambaram ever closer to the 2G scam, perhaps Mukherjee should step up and deliver the knock-out punch.

In his duels with P Chidambaram, Pranab Mukherjee has thus far been willing to strike but afraid to wound. Reuters

The latest stunning revelation relates to an office memorandum sent in March 2011 by Dr PGS Rao, Deputy Director in the Finance Ministry to Vini Mahajan, Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, regarding allocation and pricing of 2G spectrum. The note, sent a month after former Telecom Minister A Raja was jailed, was evidently approved by Mukherjee, and effectively fixes Chidambaram.

The details of the note were revealed following a Right to Information request filed by activist Vivek Garg; the note, along with other documents are now before the Supreme Court, which is hearing a petition from Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy for a CBI investigation into Chidambaram’s role in the 2G scam case.

Alongside that legal track, political developments have acquired rapid momentum. Opposition parties, including the BJP, have stepped up their demand for Chidambaram’s resignation.

“The cat is out of the bag,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said on Wednesday. “It was clear all along that Chidambaram agreed to Raja’s formula for 2G spectrum allocation. If he had stuck to the finance ministry officials’ position, the scam would not have taken place.”.

The CPI too has demanded that Chidambaram’s role needs to be examined. The party’s national secretary D Raja noted that Chidambaram’s continuance in the Minister had, “morally speaking, become untenable.”

Predictably, the Congress rejected the demand for Chidambaram’s resignation and said “we do not, in any manner, accept” the allegation made by Swamy against him.

“The party does not doubt (Chidambaram’s) integrity… Without waiting for the court proceedings to be completed, it is highly objectionable and inappropriate for Dr Swamy or anyone else to pass premature judgement on the very same issue on which he is seeking relief,” party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told PTI. Singhvi said the “mischievous attempt” to create a rift between different constitutional functionaries is highly regrettable and ought not to be repeated.

Yet, the real problem for the UPA is the rather more ruinous rift between Chidambaram and Mukherjee, which has a long history.

Each has been sniping at the other for a while now on matters that relate to the other’s ministry. The level of distrust between them runs so deep that in September 2010, Mukherjee wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh complaining that his office had been bugged.

Although he did not invoke Chidambaram’s name, it was abundantly clear that he suspected the Home Minister of foul play. In fact, Mukherjee deliberately opted to have the Central Board of Direct Taxes sweep his office for bugs, rather than the Intelligence Bureau, which comes under the Home Ministry.

Prana-da has thus far limited himself to shooting off letters to the Prime Minister (or having his ministry write them) slyly incriminating Chidambaram. He thus far proved willing to strike but afraid to wound. Which only leaves Chidambaram as a slighted rival, never a good thing in politics.

But since politics is all about getting the timing right, and since the planets are currently lined so as to cause maximum malefic influence to Chidambaram, perhaps Pranab-da should go for the kill. It’s time to pull out the long knives.

"In fact today a sensational news item has come and it is through the exercise of the RTI. A note was sent by minister of finance to Prime Minister. Somebody demanded through the use of RTI to have the copy of that note from the Prime Minister's Secretariat and... fact of the matter is somebody has produced that as a piece of evidence in a particular case," Mukherjee commented.

He said whether the letter can be used in such a manner or not "is a different story."

A finance ministry document submitted to the Supreme Court says the telecom ministry could have gone in for auction of 2G spectrum licenses had the then finance minister P Chidambaram insisted on this.

sum wrote:^^ have to say that SSwamy really does seem to have powerful backers..

He had publicly thrown the gauntlet 2-3 months back that his next target was PC and he would ensure PC would go to jail/resign...amazing that he is actually walking the talk!!

chaanakya wrote:^^ 'seen' in bureaucratic language means 'approved'. Note is a torpedo from Bongo Bondhu to Lungimaster through PMO. Remember the incident of bugging of FM chamber .One can not do that live to tell a tale.

The all-out attempts being made by the Union government and the Central Bureau of Investigation to thwart any possibility of the Supreme Court monitoring the Rs1.76 lakh crore spectrum scam in the light of home minister P Chidambaram’s name being tossed up by the key petitioner belie the government’s vowed faith in the judicial screening of matters which, of course, aren’t troublesome for the ruling party.

The very fact that the Centre’s stand in the spectrum case is altogether contrary to what it had been stressing in the Gujarat violence cases gives an impression that it doesn’t want a fair probe in the case.

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However, it couldn’t swallow the recent order by the apex court that merely set up a special investigating team comprising two former judges among others to monitor the investigations being carried out by the investigating agencies in the mega billions back money scam.

It has sought review of that order saying the government is competent to investigate the scam and accordingly bring the siphoned off money back to the country.

The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday said the 2G spectrum scandal is not an “ordinary” criminal case and dismissed the Centre’s argument that it (SC) should not cross the “Lakshman Rekha” by monitoring the investigation. The court said “if Sita hadn’t crossed the Lakshman Rekha, Ravan wouldn’t have been killed”.

During the inconclusive hearing on an application by Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy seeking questioning of home minister P Chidambaram (finance minister in 2008) for not stopping allotment of scarce spectrum by then telecom minister A Raja, government counsel PP Rao said the government would examine the note sent by the finance ministry to the prime minister's office, and other documents submitted by Swamy.

“The government will study them and CBI will also consider them. The next status report will contain its outcome,” he said. Swamy has sought a CBI probe alleging Chidambaram’s complicity in the offence.

The government, which picked up the arguments from where the agency’s counsel KK Venugopal had left, contended that monitoring by the court in a case in which charge sheets have been filed was unheard of. Rao said there was complete bar on the court’s interjection at this stage and it’s opposed to its monitoring of the probe.

Not impressed with Rao’s contention, a bench of justices GS Singhvi and Ashok Kumar Ganguly said the CBI started the investigation in the “biggest scam” only after it passed directions and asked the sleuths to impartially do its job without any fear.

Even during the hearing on the issue whether the court should or could monitor the investigation, the then solicitor general Gopal Subramanium had said “the government has no objection” to such a direction.

“Are you withdrawing the statement what the then SG had made?” asked the court.

“I am not withdrawing that statement. What my contention is that once a charge sheet has been filed, court can’t monitor its investigation,” Rao replied. “It is well settled that the task of monitoring by this court would end the moment the charge sheet was filed and thereafter the ordinary process of law would take over.”

However, the bench asked him as to why it cannot direct the CBI to further investigate on the basis of apprehensions expressed by Swamy that the then Finance minister Chidambaram was privy to the fixing of spectrum price by the jailed Raja.

“The investigation is going on as supplementary charge sheet hasn’t been filed as yet. How can you say that after filing of the charge sheet, no further investigation can take place in that case,” the bench raised another query.

Towards the end of the hearing in a packed court room, Rao argued that the power to investigate being a statutory power, no superior authority or court can direct the police as to how it should investigate a case or the trial court as to how it should exercise its jurisdiction and powers. “The manner of investigation is left completely to the discretion of the police and the kind of orders to be passed is left to the court concerned,” he said.

However, the question still looking for a satisfactory reply was whether the investigation in the spectrum case was over?

Venugopal said the prosecution in the scam cases was going on and said the apex court could only monitor the progress in the case.

In his private criminal complaint being dealt by the 2G scam case judge O P Saini, Swamy has sought a direction to summon Chidambaram to the witness box. The matter has been pending there.

Making a strong plea against the apex court passing further direction to the CBI on Swamy’s plea, Rao sought to pass over the relief sought by the complainant to the trial court. He has “admittedly approached the trial court for the same purpose,” Rao said.

Swamy has sought examination of himself as well as issuing of summons to a few named witnesses.

The trial court has been seized of the matter. It not only has the “power to summon witnesses and examine the complainant but the power to issue summons for production of relevant documents from any person”, counsel said.

It enjoys the power to “proceed against any person not named as an accused in the charge sheet. Thus, looked at from any angle, there is no need to pass any order on his (Swamy) plea before SC”, Rao said.

Hearing will continue on Tuesday.

Pratyush wrote:CBI note shows PM, Chidu had 43 days to stop Raja – but didn’t

What could be the reasons for this non action by the two men? While the consensus on the thread is that Mr Raja is guilty of gross misconduct in the 2G licensing. He was part of the team that went along with his actions.

That being the case, they (PC & MMS ) are guilty by association in the dark deeds of Raja.