Opinion » Editorial

Published: May 11, 2013 00:21 IST | Updated: May 11, 2013 00:21 IST

Two down, what next?

 After brazening it out for as long it could, the Manmohan Singh government has finally bowed to the inevitable andsacked Pawan Kumar Bansal and Ashwani Kumar. The Railway Minister was on a sticky wicket over a serious

 bribery case involving a close relative, and the Law Minister had been pulled up by the highest court for interferingin a status report on coal block allotments due for presentation in court by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Mr.Bansal’s position had become completely untenable following disclosure that contrary to the Railway Minister’s ownclaim, he was possibly aware of how the bribery deal was clinched by his nephew, Vijay Singla. Mr. Bansal hadstoutly defended himself when news first broke of Mr. Singla’s arrest by the CBI on charges of accepting a hefty bribetowards a promised appointment in the Railway Board. The minister insisted that he had no business relationship

 with Mr. Singla even as it emerged that the nephew was overseeing his constituency interests in Chandigarh. A photograph revealed Mr. Singla’s presence in Mr. Bansal’s office at the time the latter took charge as Railway Minister. As further details surfaced, things began to spiral out of control and soon there was no telling fact fromfiction.

 A tell-all tape in the possession of the CBI has been hinted at, and there are accusations that large loans wereextended to the Bansal family by a public sector bank coinciding with Mr. Bansal’s earlier term as minister of statefor finance. Mr. Kumar’s wrongdoing was of a different order and there were no personal or financial accusationsagainst him. Yet what was passed off as a mere impropriety became indefensible after the Supreme Court took the

 view that the heart of the CBI’s report had been altered under the minister’s supervision. The court was alsounsparing of the government for treating the CBI as a handmaiden, suggesting that immediate steps be taken forliberating it from executive influence. Together the two scandals dealt a body blow to a government already in allmanner of trouble over 2G, Coalgate and other scams. But typically the regime waited until matters had reached ahead and it was no longer possible to follow the usual drill of delaying until the pressure had eased. The plain truthis that the government’s image has hit rock bottom with any protestations of innocence being seen only as anextended act of chicanery by an establishment practised in deceit. This was to have been the moment to rejoice forparty and government. But thanks to these ministerial misdemeanours, and the government’s own refusal to act

 before irretrievable damage was done, the sheen has been taken off the Congress’s glorious victory in Karnataka.

Keywords: Coalgate, coal scam, UPA government, coal status report, Pawan Kumar Bansal, Ashwani Kumar, railway  bribery scandal, Vijay Singla

Printable version | May 12, 2013 10:59: 36 PM | http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/two-down-what-next/article4703138.ece

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