Indian Scams: Bofors

The Bofors scandal happened in 1980, where many were accused of receiving kickbacks from a company called Bofors AB. Large sums of money was given by Bofors AB to win a bid to supply India’s 155mm field howitzer for the armed forces. The scam was estimated to be Rs. 400 million and it rocked India as the value of the scam was large, the scam was concerned with national security and allegations were levelled even against the Prime Minister. The scam was brought out during Viswanath Pratap Singh’s tenure as defense minister. It was brought to light through investigative journalism by N Ram and Chitra Subramaniam in The Hindu and The Indian Express.

How BOFORS Happened

The Indian Army required Howitzer guns. A tender was floated in 1984. The French Sofma gun was evaluated and was found to be superior to the Bofors gun. The army needed a gun that could shoot at a range of 30km. The army chief Krishnaswamy Sundarji opted for the Sofma guns since the field trials showed that the Sofma could shoot at a range of 29.2 km as compared to the Bofors gun at a range of 21.5km. It was later on revealed that Bofors was illegally allowed to alter its bid without submitting a tender again. The Bofors scandal came to the forefront after an announcement in the Swedish radio in the year 1987. The firm AE Services was used in the scam. This company had a paid up capital of lira 100 and no employees.

Chitra Subramaniam of The Hindu newspaper got hold of the private diary in which it was mentioned that “Q’s” involvement may be a problem due to the closeness with “R”. Q’s identity became clear when Chitra identified the Swiss Bank where the money from AE Services went into. It was later determined that the account was operated by Ottavio Quattrocchi. The CBI had also obtained documents but was ruled out since it was a photo copy. It was also proved that Ottavio Quattrocchi was paid 3% of the sale amount (USD 7 m) as commission through AE Services.

The key accused was Ottavio Quattrocchi. Ottavio Quattrocchi was wanted in India for criminal charges. He was a conduit for bribes in the Bofors scandal. Ottavio Quattrocchi was seen as the middleman by the CBI’s probe of the Bofors scandal, who was an Italian businessman, owned the petrochemicals firm Snamprogetti. 

Ottavio Quattrocchi was also close to Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. This may have led to the downfall of the Congress in the 1989 elections. The case against Ottavio Quattrocchi was strengthened when the Interpol had revealed two bank accounts with the BSI Bank AG in the name of Ottavio Quattrocchi and his wife Maria. The bank accounts had funds of EUR 3m ad USD 1m. This seemed to be a substantial amount of money for a salaried person. In 1993, when the CBI attempted to interrogate Ottavio Quattrocchi, he was allowed to leave the country since Sonia Gandhi had a deal with the late ex-Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao.

Ottavio Quattrocchi was detained in Argentina in 2007, by orders from the Interpol. He was later released but his passport was impounded. Since India did not have an extradition treaty with Argentina, India lost the case in the Argentine Supreme Court due to the fact that the Indian government did not provide a key court order, a basis to arrest Ottavio Quattrocchi. Currently, the Italian businessman does not feature in the list of CBI’s wanted people and the red corner notice by the Interpol.

Ottavio Quattrocchi won 60 projects for Snamprofetti. These include: 
-1981: The five Alibag (Thal Vaishnet), plants from RCF, four;Kribhco plants in Hazira, as well as the ONGC gas pipeline in Hazira.
-The National Fertilizers Limited plant in Una and two plants in Guna in 1983.
-IFFCO’s three plants in Aonla in 1984 
-The Nagarjuna Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited’s two plants in Kakinada in 1987. 
Over a period of time Ottavio Quattrocchi became influential and was known as the man to approach for contracts with India.

WHAT HAPPENED TO BOFORS SCAM ACCUSED:

Ottavio Quattrocchi, the prime accussed now lives a good life as CBI has withdrawn the red-corner notice against him. India's law ministry under the Congress regime also unfroze his bank accounts in 2006.

Late Ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was accused of receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB. In 2004, he was posthumously cleared of the allegation.

SK Bhatnagar: Former defense secretary was accused of abusing his official authority. No actions taken. Died in 2001.

Win Chadha was the arms agent. He was accused of receiving part of the 64 crore kickback by the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1986. Died in 2001.

The Hinduja Brothers were also probed in the Bofors scam. The prosecution failed to prove their involvement in the Bofors scam. In 2005, the Delhi High Court also acquitted the Hinduja brothers Shrichand, Gopichand and Prakash Hinduja of all charges.

After almost 30 years when the Bofors scam was committed, no one has been punished yet. Despite glaring proofs of Quattrocchi's involvement, Congress Govt decided to unfreeze his bank accounts and remove the red-croner notice against him. Three other major accused, Rajiv Gandhi, S K Bhatnagar and Win Chadha, are already dead. Hinduja Brothers have been acquitted of all charges. All in all, no major accused are left to be caught in the scam. Despite glaring evidences of the scam being committed, CBI has failed to nail anyone.In all probability no one will ever be held guilty for one of the biggest Defense scams in Indian history.

10 facts on 'Coalgate' loss

Refrence: http://in.news.yahoo.com/10-facts-on-rs-1-86-lakh-crore--coalgate--loss.html

The Comptroller and Auditor General on Friday tabled three reports -- on power, coal and airports -- in Parliament, almost indicting the UPA government for allegedly 'causing' a loss of more than Rs 1.86 lakh crore to the exchequer.

The report has also lambasted the government for favouring private companies who benefitted from such 'largesse', giving the opposition parties a lot of fodder to them to hit out at the government with.

The CAG has said that the so-called 'Coal-gate' scam was even bigger than the 2G scam.

So here are 10 facts on the issues that CAG has blasted the government over:

1. In a severe indictment of the UPA government, the CAG report on coal says that 57 coal fields, in the period 2005 to 2009, were allocated to 100 private companies instead of being auctioned or brought under competitive bidding. This, the report says, was an opaque, subjective allotment and caused these private companies to benefit to the tune of Rs 1.86 lakh crore.

2. This will be highly embarrassing for the ruling UPA dispensation as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself was at the helm of affairs at the Union Coal Ministry from 2006 to 2009. While the Congress is said to have prepared a strong defense on the issue, it is likely to face a major storm from the Opposition parties in Parliament. The CAG report on coal puts the prime minister in the dock who allegedly allotted 44 billion tonnes of coal at throwaway prices when he was the coal minister.

3. Sources indicate that the government will say that the CAG calculation on the alleged loss to the exchequer - Rs 1.86 lakh crore -- is inaccurate as the CAG has not accounted for the varying cost of coal extraction from mine to mine, etc.

4. What the government will find difficult to deny is the fact that after being allotted the coal fields at throwaway prices, many of these private firms sold their companies at huge profits while some others actually sold coal in the open market in utter violation of their terms of contract.

5. With the demand for coal being immediate and huge as the Indian economy boomed, the government did not have the time to wait to change the law which would allow coalfields to be auctioned - as it would have taken years to amend policies, laws and procedures. And since PSUs such as Coal India were unable to handle the surge in demand, private companies were brought into the picture.

6. The prime minister has gone on record some time ago as saying that he would resign if even 'an iota of truth' was found in the allegations of corruption made by Team Anna Hazare against him, apart from 14 other Cabinet members.

7. The CAG report on Power too pulled up the UPA government for favouritism. The CAG has alleged that private firms like Tata Power and Reliance power were favoured. The CAG report also accuses the government of changing binding norms after the allotment of power projects.

8. Report alleges that firms like Tata Power and Reliance Power acquired more land than required for the power projects. CAG says that the bidding process was vitiated by allowing Reliance Power to use excess coal from three blocks allocated to the Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project.

9. The CAG also slammed the levy of development fee on passengers at Delhi Airport, and said that the airport vitiated the sanctity of bidding process.

10. CAG said that DIAL would get an undue benefit of Rs 3,415 crore from the levy of development fee on passengers at Delhi Airport. The CAG report has also questioned the role of the then Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel for favouring GMR, which runs the Delhi Airport.

Coalgate Scam

Reference:: http://realityviews.blogspot.in/2012/06/full-report-on-coalgate-scam-cbi-starts.html

Full Report on Coalgate Scam CBI starts preliminary inquiry CBI will not probe PM Manmohan Singh

A draft report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had stated that the government's decision not to auction coal blocks caused a loss of Rs.1.8 lakh crore to the public exchequer that is loss to the each Indian citizen.

A complaint was given by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs Prakash Javadekar and Hansraj Ahir to CVC.

Team Anna has also alleged the scam in the Coalgate.
Team Anna has questioned the role of Manmohan Singh in the suspected scam. The prime minister held the coal portfolio from November 2006 to May 2009.
Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal, said, that The Governments decision to forgo profits of 2 lakh crores was not taken by the Coal Ministry or Coal Secretary it was taken by someone from the PMOs office.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh headed the coal ministry when most allocations were done.

Coalgate Scam in which year happened?
Coalgate scam happened between years 2006 to 2009.

Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal said that In three years, 145 blocks were allocated while prior to his tenure only 75 mines were allocated in 12 years. It shows that the demand for coal was high only in three years. In fact, only one coal block has been allotted since he left the charge of coal portfolio,"

Kejriwal said the blocks were allocated to companies which had "nothing to do with steel cement and power. Their motive was to sell the mines".

Year 2012 –
The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has asked the
CBI to probe coal block allocation between 2006 and 2009.
CVC has also asked the CBI to complete the inquiry in three months.

Because of the CVC request and pressure from Team Anna
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday registered a preliminary enquiry into the coal block allocation.

Media has reported that CBI told to media that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will not be probed for alleged irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks between 2006 and 2009.

So what CBI will investigate?

Media reported that CBI will investigate

1.    misuse of allocation of coal blocks

2.    misuse of coal blocks by private companies

3.    Calculate loss due to any irregularities in the auction process

4.    Role of all bureaucrats, officials, private companies and ministers, and the screening committee which recommended the names.

5.    scrutinize 156 companies and 65 coal blocks



What is the complaint how the coal gate scam happened?

UPA II Congress Government adopted a first-come-first-serve basis for allocation of coal blocks to benefit some private companies.

The complaint also alleged that allocation of blocks to 156 companies was improper, as they had handed over operations to other companies at a premium.

The complaint also alleged the allottees of coal blocks did not start production themselves and outsourced the operation to third parties at a premium and pocketing the benefit.

The price of 1,700 crore metric tonne of coal worth Rs.51 lakh crore was given almost free to private companies.

Last year in a statement BJP said that

1.    51 companies were allotted coal blocks in 2006

2.    19 companies in 2007

3.    41 companies in 2008

4.    32 companies in 2009


At a rate of Rs.50 per metric tonne.

In this case I think Prime Minister should resign and let the CBI make the enquiry and enquiry should be monitored by Supreme Court of India on day to day basis.

But the best option is to form the Special Investigating Team SIT consisted of retired Supreme Court judges

In Bofors case what happened no one was guilty same will happen in the Coalgate scam no one is guilty and guilty are not alive.

CBI works under government and no one goes against his boss who gives him salary and promotion and demotion.

Mumbai Violence: Who is Responsible ??

Muslims in India and elsewhere have a right to feel concerned for their co-religionists anywhere in the world if they are targeted and discriminated against – whether in Myanmar or Assam is immaterial. But the violence in Mumbai last Saturday, where the media and the police were at the receiving end, shows that they are being taken up the garden path once again. Their leaders are creating in them a new sense of victimhood and anger that does not square with the facts.

It is easy to blame the police for being unprepared for the huge crowd that turned out, but it is the leadership of the protest organisers who must be blamed more, since they would have been even more aware of what was really going on in their mosques and bylanes in the run-up to the protest.

According to The Indian Express, a confidential report had been sent to the Mumbai Police Commissioner that he should expect “law and order problems,” especially because Muslims were being told in their mosques during Friday prayers to attend the Saturday protests. They were being pumped up on stories of atrocities on Muslims in Myanmar and Assam.

Of course, the police must be blamed for assuming that the permission given to an unregistered group to hold a prayer meeting at Azad Maidan would be a placid affair. But given the context in which the protest was being held, they were clearly underprepared. However, given also that 45 of the 50-and-odd injured in the violence were policemen, it is their extraordinary restraint that must be commended rather than just being apportioned the blame for not being adequately prepared.

Rather, it is time to throw the spotlight on the Muslim leadership for building up the anger and not doing anything to rein it in.

More than the police, no one in the Muslim community could have failed to note the misleading SMSes and MMSes doing the rounds in the run-up to the protest day.

One SMS was designed to make very Muslim in India feel like a hunted animal and angry and victimised. According to The Times of India, the SMS read thus: “Burma, Assam, Gujarat, Kashmir ke bad na jane kahan? Burma mein Musalmano ke qatl-e-aam or zulm ke khilaf Azad Maidan me Sunday ko rally hai. America me 5 Sikho ka katal hua to media or sarkar me hadkam hai, or lakhon Musalmanon ki zindagi ki koi keemat nahi. Sab ki ankhen band hai. Is SMS to Sunday se pehle Hindustan ki har Musalman or mantriyo or media tak pohchao..”.

The bashing of the media and destruction of television OB vans can be traced to this SMS message.

Look at the number of deliberate truth distortions here. The Indian media has been more than fair in reporting the Bodo-Muslim violence in Kokrajhar – in fact, it has been balanced, and did not overtly take the Bodo side even though the Bodos have as much reason to be angry as the Muslims, thanks to the influx from Bangladesh, some of them illegal immigrants. The fact that many people are infiltrators from Bangladesh is not even mentioned. Every word in the SMS is designed to feed a sense of victimhood without context.

It is easy to blame the police for being unprepared for the huge crowd that turned out, but it is the leadership of the protest organisers who must be blamed more. Reuters

As for the Myanmarese violence against the Rohingyas of the Arakan, the SMS assumes that it is somehow India’s job to take up the issue. This is why the murder in the US Gurdwara is mentioned – to show that if India can take up that issue, why not the riots in Myanmar? That many of the Rohingyas are taking shelter on the India side (some have even shifted to Hyderabad) is not seen as a reason to be grateful to this nation which has not so far discriminated against the flood of migrants from Bangladesh and even Myanmar. Would Indian Muslims be so angry if told that we are providing shelter to these victims of violence?

Then, there were the fake MMSes doing the rounds – many of them put up on social media – showing pictures that purport to show that Muslims were being slaughtered by the hundred. A Pakistani journalist-blogger – Faraz Ahmed – who is no friend of the Myanmarese, investigated these pictures and found that many of them were bogus, and possibly morphed by mischief-monger to enrage Muslims everywhere (Read Ahmed’s article, ‘Social media is lying about Burma’s Muslim cleansing,” here, and another related report here).

Ahmed’s conclusion: pictures taken during the 2010 earthquake in China, protests in Thailand and Tibetans setting themselves on fire against the Chinese atrocities in Tibet are captioned as cases of Muslims being victimised and killed. A Thai picture of teargassed protestors in 2004 is captioned “More than 1,000 people killed in Burma”

Writes Ahmed: “I do not deny the killings of Muslims in Burma – not even for a minute. I think it is horrific and I am sympathetic towards the immense loss being suffered by my Muslim brothers and sisters abroad. What I am against is being lied to. Imagine the amount of lies we are being fed through these pictures.”

The Muslim protestors who went on the rampage in Mumbai were also fed lies and half-truths by the circulation of these mischievous pictures and by their leaders.

The incendiary statement of Asaduddin Owaisi in parliament the other day, where he “warned the central government…” about a “third wave of radicalisation among Muslim youth” (read his full statement here), and another one right at the protest venue (where one speaker talked about biased media coverage) are clear examples of Muslim leaders trying to engender feelings of victimisation among Muslims.

When Owaisi said he was warning the central government about the radicalisation, he was forgetting one thing: was it not his duty to combat this radicalisation, to tell Muslims the whole truth rather than just the one he wants to convey?

It is no one’s case that Muslims are not discriminated against in India, or that they are not targeted occasionally in communal violence, but balance requires that Muslim leaders should speak the whole truth – that this is not a one-way street.

No Muslim in India is even told that Hindus in Pakistan are now being forced to consider seeking asylum in India. Owaisi, in fact, seemed to spread disinformation on the influx from Bangladesh. He told parliament: “I would say that the population of Bangladesh, when Bangladesh was created, Muslims were three crore; Hindus were three crore. As of now, Muslims in Bangladesh are 13 crore; and Hindus in Bangladesh are 1.5 crore. Sea cannot swallow so many Hindus of Bangladesh! Where have they gone? This is the question I leave it to the wisdom of Mr Advani.”

The facts: the population of Bangladesh in 1971 wasn’t divided 50:50 between Hindus and Muslims. The first census in East Pakistan after partition put the Hindu population at around 22 percent. It is now less than half the figure – below 10 percent (Read here).

So when Owaisi asks where did these Hindus go, he has a point. It is more than likely that they were among the early migrants to the north-east after 1971 along with many Muslims who entered illegally seeking better economic prospects.

But this nuance is lost, and Owaisi doesn’t even pause to reflect on the implications of what he said: why did so many more Hindus than Muslims leave Bangladesh, assuming that is the case?

He should also read Derek O Brien’s piece in India Today. He tells a tale where his extended Anglo-Indian family was split asunder after partition: one wing was in Pakistan, and another in Kolkata. In 1984, his brother visited the Pakistani branch of the family and found that most of them had converted to Islam.

His conclusion: “Most of my father’s generation and all of the next generation – my second cousins – had converted to Islam. The pressure had been too much. Being a minority in Pakistan was tough business.”

Then he reflects on being an Anglo-Indian in this country. “I thought of our life in India, the freedom to go to church, the freedom to practice my faith, the freedom that my country gave its minorities. I’ve never felt prouder of being an Indian.”

India’s Muslim leadership has a responsibility to highlight the grievances of their community, but it has an even greater responsibility to speak the truth about how much better it is to live in a secular state, despite the warts.

The PM’s speech we actually want to hear

http://www.firstpost.com/india/the-pms-speech-we-actually-want-to-hear-417301.html

by Rajesh Pant

Brothers and Sisters of India:

For the last eight years I have addressed you on this day and have lied a lot. I have said a lot of feel good stuff. Today I stand here to say a few words of full truth.

Let me start by promising I will not spend the next year trying to prolong the tenure of the UPA.

In 1992 when I was the Finance Minister, the then PM, Narasimha Rao gave me the opportunity to address and resolve the financial crisis and problems we had (as usual) run into. I think I did a creditable job because I was focused and had a reasonably free hand.

I now propose to give myself a free hand and do something for our great nation.

Brothers and Sisters:

Just like this August day – I will first make myself independent.

Mrs Sonia Gandhi who has been elected Head of the Congress Party should administer the party. I have been elected Prime Minister and Head of Government — s0 I will administer the government and the country. Unfortunately she is trying to do my job and not doing well. And I am taking the blame. This has to change.

What will Manmohan Singh say his in Independence Day speech tomorrow? PTI

I know that ‘corruption is a cancer and is to be rooted out’ is made in every speech but precious little is done.

So let me first address the issue of ‘small corruption’. I wish to inform all working for the Government of India it is neither a birthright nor a constitutional right. They are simply occupying  positions temporarily and are paid to do their jobs. They are misusing and abusing their office for personal gain — because you are also abetting them. You want to ‘move on’ or ‘get ahead of the system’ and they manipulate you.  So I really have to be pragmatic and do what has been suggested by an eminent economist — the Economic Advisor — to legitimise all speed money up to Rs 500. Provided a receipt is obtained. At least these petty bureaucrats will pay taxes; and the government will not have to create a pay commission and waste time.

Now ‘big corruption’. Corruption unfortunately is part of our DNA. It is not a foreign virus. It is intrinsic in our nature to try and find a short cut across the system. Our Nation is fast degenerating into a lawless cauldron. There are too many laws and too many lawmakers. Above all there is no respect for the law; because it cannot be enforced. I believe the only way to be bought back in line is to massively strengthen our Judicial system. I will request the President to appoint more and more judges; enhance the power of the judiciary and encourage them to dispense quick, meaningful and harsh justice. The only way we will learn is if we are punished quickly and painfully. I see all these fat cats who have thugged the nation for thousands of crores of rupees smiling slyly and rubbing their hands in glee while awaiting a ‘date of hearing’. I am sick and tired of this; as much as you are. So a tougher and bigger justice system will be my weapon against big corruption. If I can lock these malefactors for about 20 years; it will send a strong message to others.

Unfortunately, many of my colleagues believe that power is best expressed by tearing down independent institutions because they come in the way of questioning their omnipotence. So I will turn my office — the PMO — to  shield our great and independent institutions which are currently being bled and castrated by my fellow politicians.  If we are to join the league of great nations we must protect, preserve and grow our institutions — the Judiciary, the Election Commission, CAG, RBI  and all the others. A great nation overcomes strong challenges because it has strong challengers!

Let me bring to light another great truth. We have not developed much. Maybe a couple of years the growth rate had soared helped by cheap money being made available and by the euphoria of Indians that they were ‘free’ to pursue growth. But there is this large group of people who want to keep everything in their manipulative hands. I will recommend dissolution and/or scaling down ministries except in the area of Defence, Foreign Policy, Economic affairs, Home, Law and Order, Food, Education and few others essential for government. For the rest they will be channelled slowly, but surely into hands and heads who are capable of running them outside the government.  This will mean fewer people in government, less corrupt and paid better.

Ours is a poor nation and I do not say it with pride. Too many of my colleagues step out of their helicopters and say we are poor as if it were something to be proud of. It makes me enraged to just think of those who profit from a leaky pipeline sucking away money meant for the poor. But I insist we continue to subsidise the food and other essential items for them but in a meaningful manner. So I will encourage technology development in this area and move fast to provide each Indian, below the poverty line, wherever it is — with a unique identification — most importantly for the reason that money meant for them reaches them.

This will mean I can stop the most wasteful of all public expenditure —  subsidies — which are all stolen in any case. Less or no subsidies will mean another stroke against corruption.

Brothers and sisters:

We have been an Independent nation for 65 years and yet we lag behind most countries in all meaningful developmental areas. The thing I will focus on is Education. I do not believe we will be anywhere in the ranks of the world’s powerful with illiterate and uneducated people.

From all the money we will be saving from my common sense schemes outlined to you, we will invest heavily in Education — primary, secondary and tertiary — to eventually take this great land into the future it and its people deserve. Ours will have to become a literate and educated society to be a leader of nations.

There are still areas which need to be covered. I have not touched upon so many; but believe me, if we take care of the really big issues the smaller ones fall in line. For instance I have not touched upon Reservation.  It is one of the most harmful things — foisted by feckless politicians and has taken root and perhaps ours is a unique example  of such a nonsensical idea. It is creating a country of pygmies.

I believe it will  die a natural death as and when  our society becomes more and more educated, lawful and responsible. Our Country will develop only as a meritocracy.

Finally it is my duty to remind everyone that they must do their own jobs and in doing so fulfil the collective destiny of the nation. Everyone in this great and beautiful country is trying to do someone else’s job. Then we blame everyone else and that’s how we are today.

India has many constituencies; each constituency has its own agenda. Too many constituencies and too many agendas. Each one thinks they are right. While I appreciate their right to be right they have to recognise they owe a debt to the other people of India and to stand in line and wait their turn. Constantly and consistently fighting with each other will lead us nowhere. As it has led us — nowhere!

Brothers and sisters — I end my address with a promise and a plea. I will do the things I have to do; you have to do the things you have to and finally we will do the things we have to do. Only then can we proudly say Jai Hind.

The Unseen Hand: Sonia Gandhi

http://www.firstpost.com/breaking%20views/the-unseen-hand-how-sonia-gandhi-operates-as-super-pm-416285.html

In February 2011, the then Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Kantilal Bhuria, received a letter from Congress party president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. In that letter, Sonia Gandhi offered some suggestions to Bhuria in respect of the Forest Rights Act, which was then at a draft stage, based on her discussions with her “kitchen Cabinet”, the jholawala brigade formally known as the National Advisory Council.

It is hard to understand Bhuria’s state of mind at that time, but for some unfathomable reason, he didn’t exactly jump with alacrity at having received “suggestions” for changes in the draft rules to policy emerging from the extra-constitutional authority housed in 10, Janpath.

He didn’t, for instance, say “Ji, Huzoor” — and incorporate the policy suggestions. Perhaps in a moment of political naivete, he had deluded himself into believing that as the Minister, he had final say over policy matters in government. He therefore sat on Sonia Gandhi’s letter for a couple of months.

Meanwhile, Sonia Gandhi, and her kitchen Cabinet, were getting quite antsy over the delay in the Minister’s responsiveness. In June, Sonia Gandhi sent another letter pointing out that the Minister had been less than agile in responding to the suggestions for policy changes. “The Ministry of Tribal Affairs was requested to inform NAC regarding the progress on the implementation of the recommendations,” the letter pointed out. “We have now been informed that the recommendations of the NAC have been processed and are awaiting your approval.”

Sonia Gandhi — the Super PM.

Bhuria wrote back in response, but rather than comply with the suggestion, he had the gall to reject the suggestions forwarded by her! With that letter, the brave but foolish Bhuria virtually sealed his fate. The words ‘Off with his head’ may or may not have reverberated in 10, Janpath, but in the Cabinet reshuffle the next month, Bhuria was unceremoniously sacked. In his place was appointed V Kishore Chandra Deo, who knowing what was required of him, promptly took on board the “suggestions” from on top, which eventually made it into law.

That episode is revealed from documents that Economic Times secured under the Right to Information Act, all of which go to establish just how actively Sonia Gandhi was involved in steering legislation on important social welfare policies, and even deciding the fate of Ministers based on action taken on her “suggestions”.

The details of the documents, which Economic Times reports on, validate what was always known in a general way: that Sonia Gandhi, as the power behind the throne, was the ‘super Prime Minister’ — or She Who Must Be Obeyed. What they additionally reveal is the extent of her involvement in the minutiae of policy matters, and her extraordinary exertions in pushing them through Cabinet and Parliament.

They also show up the hollowness of the claim that in a Parliamentary system of government , it is the Prime Minister who is the final arbiter on policy matters. According to the details that the newspaper secured from the NAC Secretariat, even the Prime Minister received at least 25 letters in 2010 from Sonia Gandhi (in addition to the 17 that various Cabinet Ministers received from her) nudging him to steer policy in a direction that the NAC deemed fit. Even if the letters to him offer merely “suggestions” and “recommendations” – not commandments , Bhuria’s experience, and what is generally known of the power dynamics within the UPA government suggest that anyone who didn’t fall in line would have paid for not abiding by Sonia Gandhi’s extra-constitutional authority.

Strikingly, almost all of Sonia Gandhi’s interventions appear to have been made in respect of policy initiatives that are central to her social welfarist outlook, and issues that are of interest to her from the point of view of elections. Indicatively, these relate to the NREGA, the food security provision, affairs relating to the tribal communities, and issues of manual scavenging and so on.

In some cases, Sonia Gandhi’s interventions introduce some positive, common sensical provisions in proposed legislation that ought to have been considered in the normal course within the policymaking framework of the government.

For instance, ET writes, at her intervention, the Protection of Women Against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill of 2010 was amended to include domestic workers. Again, in another instance, the then Law Minister M Veeerappa Moily is nudged into coordinating with the Ministry of Women and Child Development to frame legislation to address sexual offences against children.

But equally, the documents that Economic Times offer a glimpse into are illuminating for the areas in which ‘Super Prime Minister’ Sonia Gandhi doesn’t appear to have applied her mind or made active interventions. Among these are some of the biggest issues confronting the country, including the economic slowdown, and the fiscal crisis, some of which owed directly to her social welfarist agenda (on which she was actively steering policy).

This isn’t the first time that an extra-constitutional authority has wielded such direct influence over policy matters and ministers. During Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure as Prime Minister, Sonia Gandhi’s family associate Ottavio Quattrocchi wielded enormous powers over Ministers and top bureaucrats. He even secured unprecedented access to confidential information sent to the Prime Minister’s office. To the eternal consternation of even top bureaucrats, he could recount the confidential notings that they had made on files they had sent to their Ministers.

The latest instances of policy interventions by Sonia Gandhi that the ET report shows up are the most egregious manifestation of the “power without responsibility” charade that underwrites the UPA government. Even the Prime Minister may nominally be held accountable for the policy decisions he or his government takes. But the power behind the throne, the Super Prime Minister, and the resident behind the high walls of 10, Janpath is the ultimate authority who must be obeyed, but who hovers beyond all notions of accountability.