Oil spill

8226; The Indian Express has done a great job by exposing the real face and illdoings of the NDA government, with 73 per cent of NDA pumps tainted, and cancellation of 297 of them. The NDA is only 2 per cent short of a 8220;distinction8221; level. What a 8220;commendable8221; performance!

8212; F.S.K. Barar Jodhpur

Judge the effects

8226; While punitive transfers may be a good method of disciplining and showing displeasure against a person, in the case of judiciary it would will mean the receiving court burdening itself with such judges 8216;Supreme Court begins clean-up: 10 HC judges shunted8217;, IE, October 12.

8212; S. Subramanyan Mumbai

Unequal toss

8226; This has reference to the article 8216;Disunited colours of Maharashtra8217; by Neerja Chowdhury IE, October 11. While the article was informative and without much bias, I was amused by her observation, 8216;8216;A victory for the Congress-NCP alliance would help stabilise the Manmohan Singh arrangement and reinforce Sonia Gandhi8217;s vote getting appeal. A defeat would make Manmohan Singh vulnerable to buffeting from allies, including the Left, and give the opposition confidence to step up its onslaught.8217;8217; So, if I understand it right, it is Sonia Gandhi who gains if the Congress wins but it is the poor Manmohan Singh who loses if the Congress is defeated! Head Sonia wins, tail the PM loses! What a wonderful interpretation.

8212; Shreeram Paranjpe Mumbai

Home remedies

8226; Bhavna Vij-Aurora8217;s article 8216;Master of disaster8217; IE, October 10 is an excellent reflection of what is going on in the Union home ministry. It would, however, be unfair to accuse Shivraj Patil of incompetence, since the fault does not lie with him but elsewhere. His inclusion in the Cabinet and procurement of the home portfolio 8212; in spite of being rejected at the hustings 8212; is solely a reward for his steadfast loyalty to the 8216;8216;first family8217;8217;.

8212; K.R.P. Gupta Mumbai

Fourth referee

8226; Harsha Bhogle is the only sports journalist with the courage to say what he feels 8216;The Men in the Muddle8217;, IE, October 10. His comments on the Australian players and the arrogance of Steve Bucknor are shared by most Indians.

8212; Kish Kumar Melbourne

8226; Surely India would have drawn the Bangalore Test but for very poor umpiring.

8212; Suresh Lalvani London

Write back

8226; Reacting to the report in The Indian Express on October 11, PM raises eyebrows: Minister Aiyar8217;s daughter dropped from Dabhol panel,8217;8217; Som Mandal, Managing Partner, Fox and Mandal, has sent the following rejoinder saying that the headline is 8216;8216;incorrect8217;8217;:
The undersigned have not stated to Ritu Sarin that Ms Aiyar wasn8217;t in the panel anymore. The fact is that she has not been 8216;8216;dropped8217;8217; from the Dabhol panel. We confirm that she had in-fact informed the Attorney General a fortnight ago that since she has decided to accept a new job offer and thereafter would not be able to continue with her existing assignments, including Dabhol cases.
In light of the above fact, when Ritu Sarin asked the undersigned if Ms Aiyar was still working in the Dabhol matter, the undersigned had told Ms Sarin 8216;8216;Suranya worked for a month on Dabhol, but we were subsequently informed that she would not be able to continue. We were told that she had too many other cases to handle, and would not be able to spend the kind of time the matter needed.8217;8217;
The undersigned had not said anything apart from the above to Ms Ritu Sarin on this issue. Further, the undersigned would like to add that Ms Suranya Aiyar who is an Oxford Law Graduate is still in the panel and has not been 8216;8216;dropped8217;8217; as reported.
There has been no communication to us either from the Law Ministry which is the appointing authority for appointment of lawyers in the panel or from Attorney General8217;s Office regarding Ms Aiyar8217;s being removed from the panel at any stage. That Ms Aiyar has not been 8216;8216;dropped8217;8217; is evident also from the fact that, there has been no substitute appointed in her place.
We further would like to point out that it is factually incorrect as reported in the same article that 8216;8216;a team of Solicitors from Watson Farley 038; Williams is at present in New Delhi8230;8217;8217;. The correct position is that the said team would be in New Delhi later this week. Som Mandal Managing Partner Ritu Sarin replies:
That Suranya Aiyar is no longer working on the Dabhol case is a fact Mr Mandal does not contest. What he does is the use of the word 8216;8216;dropped.8217;8217; Before the report was written, I contacted both Mr Mandal and Suranya Aiyar for their explanation. In his rejoinder above, Mr Mandal reiterates what he told me: that he was told she had too many cases to handle and would not have had the time for Dabhol.
At no point did he say, as he now does, that she was 8220;still on the panel8221; even though she would not work on the case.
Ms Aiyar8217;s explanation: 8216;8216;I got a job offer because of which I had to give up my other assignments, including this one. I don8217;t know if anyone had any sort of objections.8217;8217;
She did not say she had too many cases to handle.
While the solicitors from London may have reached New Delhi a couple of days later than my report said, it doesn8217;t take away the fact that they are here to hold talks.
As for the reservations said to have been expressed by the Prime Minister, I stand by my report.