Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said yesterday any wrongdoers in a widening telecoms scam, which is threatening his political survival, will be prosecuted.
In his first comments since the corruption scandal blew up, Singh told a leadership summit in Delhi that several investigating agencies were looking into the issue, which could potentially emerge as the country’s biggest graft cases and which is tarnishing the reputation of a prime minister long seen as India’s most honest politician.
“As far as this particular -allocation of the 2G spectrum is concerned [as] parliament is in session, I would not like to make a detailed statement,” Singh said, without giving details.
Singh has been ordered to explain to the Supreme Court why he failed to swiftly probe his Telecoms Minister Andimuthu Raja, who was sacked last week, over selling telecoms licenses too cheaply.
Singh also took no action after a senior opposition lawmaker asked the prime minister’s office in 2008 to investigate Raja.
A representative of the -gov
ernment was due to file an affidavit to the Supreme Court detailing the government’s response yesterday.
The prime minister has asked India’s top legal official, the attorney general, to represent him at the Supreme Court.
Senior members of the ruling Congress party have rallied around Singh, saying he has done nothing wrong and dismissed any rumors of the prime minister planning to resign.
The controversy has hit Mumbai’s stock market, sending telecoms shares lower.
Raja is accused of selling telecoms licenses well below their value, potentially losing the state up to US$31 billion in revenues, according to a government audit.
Raja has denied any wrongdoing and Singh said anyone found guilty in the case would be prosecuted.
“There should be no doubts in anybody’s mind that if any wrong thing has been done by anybody, he or she will be brought to book,” he said.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court took the rare step of publicly criticizing Singh for “alleged inaction” in taking 16 months to decide if Raja should be charged and investigated.
Any investigation, and possible prosecution, into a minister must be approved by the prime minister, and in Raja’s case, Singh decided not to do anything since the issue emerged in 2008.
The scandal, however, was brought up again by opposition lawmakers when parliament’s winter session opened earlier this month and has disrupted proceedings since then as they are demanding a full investigation.
Last week, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, an official watchdog, issued a report into the telecoms licenses sale, accusing Raja of a series of corrupt practices.
Raja is a member of the DMK, a regional party from Tamil Nadu that helps give the Congress party a majority in parliament. The opposition claims Singh failed to act because he feared upsetting his coalition partner.
Singh told the business forum the government would gladly discuss the issue in parliament.
“We are ready to discuss all issues in parliament. We are not afraid of discussion in parliament. It’s my humble request to all political parties to let parliament function, we can discuss everything,” he said.
The attorney general was due to present an explanation to the Supreme Court yesterday and on Tuesday will appear in person to answer questions over how Singh handled the request to investigate Raja.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was