New Delhi:
Law Minister
Ashwani Kumar is attending a Cabinet meeting; however his colleague Railways Minister Pawan Bansal has given it a skip, leading to speculation that he may be on his way out.
Mr Kumar earlier visited the Prime Minister's Office, but reportedly did not meet Dr Manmohan Singh as the latter left his office just a few minutes later. Dr Singh did, however, meet Attorney General GE Vahanvati earlier in the day.
"I did not meet the Prime Minister," said Mr Kumar.
Mr Kumar and Mr Vahanvati are both dramatis personae in the scandal over the CBI's report on its coal investigation being vetted by the Law Minister and two government officials before it was submitted to the Supreme Court in sealed cover, implying confidentiality.
Mr Kumar and a joint secretary each from the coal ministry and the Prime Minister's Office had allegedly made changes in the draft report. An angry Supreme Court said yesterday 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."
At the centre of the controversy are three meetings held on March 6, two in which Mr Kumar and the government officials met the CBI and a third where the Attorney General says he met the agency's officials at the Law Minster's behest. Mr Vahanvati and Mr Kumar have been engaged in a blame game since.
The court said yesterday that the CBI had no business giving access to a report meant for judges to the government and called the agency "caged parrot that has many masters." 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.
Mr Kumar, sources said, continues to assert that he did no wrong. He has reportedly pointed out that in the top court's scathing comments there was no censure of the PM or Law Minister. But the Opposition has been demanding that Mr Kumar should resign.
The government is under pressure now to script Mr Kumar's exit, especially as Congress president Sonia Gandhi is reportedly not in favour of the Law Minster or Rail 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."
An unambiguous victory in the Karnataka elections yesterday put an embattled Congress in a position of advantage after quite some time. It reckons that getting rid of tainted ministers will only strengthen that position and take the sting out of the opposition's attacks.