For first time, Team Anna attacks PM Manmohan Singh

NEW DELHI: Targeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the first time, Team Anna on Saturday sought an investigation against him and 14 other Cabinet ministers, including finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, on charges of corruption , by a panel of retired judges to be set up by July 25.

Citing the draft CAG report on the coalgate scam, the antigraft campaigners said the PM, who was responsible for the coal ministry, “abused his position to give huge pecuniary benefits to private parties’’ . The CAG report has held that by not auctioning coal blocks, the government extended benefits worth Rs 1.8 lakh crore to private players.
Mukherjee came under attack for not acting against those who allegedly took kickbacks in the Rs 18,000 crore Scorpene deal, and those involved in the Navy war room leak. TNN

Team Anna wants all-judge SIT by July 25

NEW DELHI: In a letter to the PM, Team Anna demanded the government set up a special investigation team of six retired judges — Justices J S Varma , M N Venkatchaliah , both former Chief Justices, Kuldeep Singh, A K Ganguly, Sudarshan Reddy and A P Shah — to probe graft charges levelled by them against the PM and 14 other Cabinet ministers. They said the panel should be set up by July 25, failing which they would launch an indefinite fast.

Team Anna, whose relentless campaign appears to have bruised the government has so far left the PM and Pranab Mukherjee, out of their firing line. Manmohan Singh had on Tuesday acknowledged public frustration and anger over graft, in what was seen as a testimony to Team Anna’s success in mobilizing popular sentiment.

Team Anna said that the SIT should also be allowed to investigate charges against P Chidambaram, Sharad Pawar, S M Krishna, Kamal Nath, Praful Patel, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Virbhadra Singh, Kapil Sibal, Salman Khurshid, G K Vasan, Farooq Abdullah, M K Alagiri and S K Shinde. They added that the probe should also cover Mayawati, Mulayam Singh Yadav , Lalu Prasad and TN chief minister Jayalalithaa. Besides, the SIT could investigate charges against Team Anna too.

Announcing their fresh battle plan, Prashant Bhushan said, “We are not saying send these ministers to jail but there must be a thorough investigation.”

Bhushan’s colleague Arvind Kejriwal said, “We will wait till July 24. If the government does not take steps to (set up SIT), we will go on an indefinite fast from July 25.”