New Delhi:
A day after the Supreme Court's scathing observations castigating the government for interfering in the CBI's investigation of coal block allocations, Law Minister Ashwani Kumar reportedly went to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today.
Dr Singh, however, left his South Block office minutes before Mr Kumar reached there. Though under fire, sources say Mr Kumar reportedly sees no censure of him in the court's remarks.
Unlike Mr Kumar, Attorney General Goolam E Vahanvati met the Prime Minister. He was also there in the wake of the Supreme Court's comments.
A furious court said yesterday that the CBI had no business giving access to a report meant for judges to the Law Minister and two government officials in March. The court said that "the heart of the report was changed on the suggestion of government officials," rejecting the CBI's contention that the "central theme of the status reports have not changed."
The Law Minister, it said, had administrative powers over the CBI, but cannot interfere with investigation. The court will at its next hearing, examine the legality of the CBI showing its report to Mr Kumar.
The government's complete ignominy at the three-hour-long hearing snatched from the Congress all the joy of a big electoral win in Karnataka.
But Mr Kumar, sources said, continues to assert that he did no wrong. Mr Kumar's argument reportedly is that rules for transaction of business state that the Law Minister can call for a meeting of the CBI director in case of a dispute between the Attorney General and an Additional Solicitor General.
The time for such legal nitty-gritty though seems to be over. Congress president Sonia Gandhi is reportedly not in favour of Mr Kumar or Railways Minister Pawan Bansal, tainted by another scandal, continuing in the government and has told the party, sources said, that "it is a matter of time."
The unambiguous victory in Karnataka put an embattled Congress in a position of advantage after quite some time and it would not like to lose that in a hurry. It reckons that getting rid of tainted ministers will only strengthen that position and take the sting out of the opposition's attacks.
Soon after the dressing down in the Supreme Court came more bad news for the government. That the CBI is set to question Mr Bansal. The minister's nephew has been arrested for allegedly accepting bribe to organise a plum posting for a senior official in the Railways.
The CBI, sources said, is following up on allegations of Mr Bansal's involvement in the bribery scandal. The minister has vehemently denied any connection with his nephew's business dealings.
The government is now said to be considering a minor cabinet reshuffle to drop the two ministers with minimum fuss.