Additional Solicitor General Harin Rawal, in a tersely-written letter to his boss and Attorney General G E Vahanvati, accusing him of messy handling of the CBI in the coal scam investigation, and sparking speculation that the latter may recuse himself from the case. Sheela Bhatt reports.
The government on Tuesday sought to downplay the political storm created by Additional Solicitor General Harin Rawal's letter accusing Attorney General G E Vahanvati of trying to interfere in the Central Bureau of Investigation's probe report on coal scam.
In a slow-moving justice delivery system, the fact that Law Minister Ashwani Kumar is still in the government is not surprising. In the sound and fury of the war between Attorney General G E Vahanvati and Additional Solicitor General Harin Rawal, the most important factor is not being given enough attention.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to furnish details of the number of mercy petitions disposed off by the President in 2011, besides other petitions pending with the government for the past several years.
A team of senior lawyers set up by the Supreme Court to report to it on the situation in the Patiala House courts where JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar was produced on Wednesday, said there was "complete breakdown of law and order" and an atmosphere of "fear and terror" prevailed there and the police did not act.