Mysterious Circular
that caused a Storm
On September 13, it was announced that Mukul Rohatgi will be Attorney General again.
He had held this post for three years until 2017. It was explained in this
column last week how Rohatgi was chosen by the PM second time. But before he
could join, the Law Ministry issued a circular the same evening listing
division of work between the AG (Rohatgi) and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.
It may be mentioned here that Tushar Mehta is a trusted man of Union Home
Minister Amit Shah and holding the SG’s post for five years. The circular said
that the list of cases in the Supreme Court will first be placed before the
learned AG on a daily basis. The AG will select the cases which he considers
his appearance to be necessary. The list will thereafter be placed before the
learned Solicitor General of India. On the surface, it looked like a routine
affair. But all hell broke as the AG will not have the power to allocate work
to SG and a battery of Additional Solicitor General. This was contrary to the
arrangement that existed during his first stint as AG. Obviously Rohatgi was
miffed as he is a hands-on person knows how to handle judicial issues keeping
in mind sensitivities. He was leaving behind a roaring practice to serve as AG
at the bidding of the PM. It transpires that Rohatgi conveyed his views to the
Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and wanted the circular be withdrawn or suitably
amended. Law Minister Kiren Rijiju is understood to have explained that the
circular was aimed at streamlining the distribution of cases and court
appearances of the government's top law officers. It is learnt that the PMO
reverted to Rohatgi within hours promising that the circular would
be withdrawn. But the circular was not withdrawn and Rohtagi chose to decline
the offer to become AG. The last word on this saga has not been written yet
what happened behind the scenes in the PMO may emerge later.
A Raid that went sour
Remember massive Income-Tax raids that
took place on the Kanpur-based Pan Masala group a couple of months ago with tax
authorities claiming Rs 400 crores unaccounted transactions were detected.
During the search, Rs. 52 lakh in cash was found along with 7 kg gold. A total
of 31 premises were searched spread across Kanpur, Noida, Ghaziabad, Delhi and
Kolkata. Digital and paper evidence revealed a nation-wide network of such
paper companies created by the group, the Finance ministry further said. A
network of 115 such shell companies was found. The main ‘directors’ also
admitted that they were only ‘dummy directors’ and signed on the dotted lines
as and when required in return for commission. So far 34 bogus bank accounts of
shell companies have been found. It was said that the businessman owning the
group was linked to SP leader Akhilesh Yadav. But months went by and no one one
knocked at Yadav's doors. No further action against the company was taken. It
transpires that the businessman had switched his loyalty to the BJP in 2017
itself and was working for the ruling party. All hell broke in Delhi and
Lucknow after the raids. It soon surfaced that neither the Income-Tax nor
Enforcement Directorate or DRI was not involved in the search operation.
Instead, these raids were conducted by the GST officials. Highly placed sources
say the raiding department was categorically told to back off. It is largely
because of this very reason that neither ED nor IT stepped into the picture and
no case was registered under the PMLA by the ED so far. Obviously, this is one
raid that went sour.
A Governor going berserk
Meghalaya Governor Satya Pal Malik has gone berserk in
his outbursts against the Modi government’s policies. He has sharpened
his attacks and on a couple of occasions he has personally attacked the Prime
Minister. In a recent outburst he went to the extent of saying "Modi is a
megalomaniac person. The Prime Minister doesn’t tolerate criticism of any kind
and is quick to sideline critics like Nitin Gadkari who enjoys enormous
goodwill across the country and when Gadkari speaks, people listen.” Malik was
picked up for Governor’s post by the PM and Amit Shah and sent him to the
sensitive state of Jammu & Kashmir. However, he was transferred to Goa and
then moved to Meghalaya which was not to his liking. He publically supported
the farmers’ agitation and sought withdrawal of three farm bills. In his
sharpest criticism of the PM recently, he said, “Modi has never ever
appreciated anyone. It’s not in his nature.” Malik has gone berserk and yet,
Modi has not removed him. Malik is completing his five year tenure early
October and getting ready to take a political plunge.
