Justice denied
Ever since Madras HC Chief Justice Vijaya Kamlesh Tahilramani put in her papers, there’s been no dearth of speculation on why she was transferred from the fourth biggest HC to one of the smallest ones in Meghalaya. Or why her request to the SC collegium for reconsideration was not granted. After all, she was one of the seniormost judges, and one whose integrity was never in question. Among all others, Justice Markandey Katju — as is his wont — waded into the controversy with his ‘inside take’.
Not that he added any new angle to whatever was already being spoken about, albeit in hushed tones — Justice Tahilramani’s rather long weekend breaks to Mumbai, and her late appearances in court thereafter. But what Katju has understandably sidestepped (though he was apparently briefed about it) was an alleged ‘conflict of interest’ insinuation made against her, before the collegium. The general view in the legal fraternity, though, is that ‘the matter’ could have been handled better. Now, the CJI is scheduled to brief President Ram Nath Kovind the day he returns from his three-nation trip, on September 17. That’s when her resignation is expected to be accepted.
Spreading the dragnet
Despite his detention, it seems the CBI could not make much headway in P. Chidambaram’s interrogation. His close aide K V Perumal is now under the scanner of the sleuthing triplet, CBI-ED-IB, in the INX Media case. If the buzz is to be believed, the agencies are now convinced that Perumal is the ‘kingpin’ who helped the Chettiar family stash the cash in offshore accounts. Perumal’s six-hour quizzing, however, did not yield any clues to the money trail the sleuths are looking for. Well, if Perumal ‘does not cooperate’, he too can be taken into custody for ‘further interrogation’.
New look for Lutyens’ Delhi?
There’s no denying that the Modi Government has impacted Lutyens’ Delhi not just politically, but also culturally — indeed, spatially. Whether it’s Ambedkar Bhawan, the War Memorial or the brand-new swank housing for the elected, the imprint is quite tangible. The new structures that have come up are, till now, broadly in conformity with the imposing colonial edifices that house all the powerful offices of the Executive around the Rajpath. But that may change — and drastically! Left to Union Urban Development Minister Hardeep Puri, many of the sandstone structures reminiscent of a more leisurely bureaucratic past may be pulled down.
And bhawan after bhawan, beginning with the rather ugly Shastri Bhawan to Nirman Bhawan, may be replaced with ‘state-of-the-art’ buildings — though the ‘techno chic’ on display on the newly-refurbished outskirts of Lutyens’ zone, seems more like a tawdry imitation of the already outdated ‘mall mile’ of Gurgaon. Aesthetics that can endure centuries may not be within the easy grasp of our current mavens. New Delhi, anyway, may end up being a new New Delhi! The government, mercifully, is yet to take a call on building a new Parliament. Letters from consecutive Speakers, Meira Kumar and Sumitra Mahajan, on the inadequacies of space, received no reply.
Comeback of the old guard
The grand old party, which is by all indications taking a step back from the Rahul Gandhi phase in seeking to reclaim its past glory, is witnessing a comeback of the Sonia Gandhi-era old guard. (That includes those who are yet to leave the party!) The likes of Milind Deora and Jyotiraditya Scindia have been left with no posts. Not that it’s in any way helping the GOP regain its fortunes, electorally or in terms of the depleted party coffers! So dismal is the atmospherics right now that the GOP’s old ally, Sharad Pawar, is spending more time advising the Thackeray brothers on how to negotiate seats with its now-dominant big brother BJP in Maharashtra than spending time on the Congress-NCP alliance in the poll-bound state!