Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has turned to India's top legal official to represent him at the Supreme Court over why he failed to probe what is emerging as one of the country's biggest corruption scams.
The last minute change to have the attorney general represent the prime minister suggests increased concern within ruling Congress party circles over a widening scandal that has touched both political and corporate India.
The Prime Minister's Office confirmed the change, but declined to give further information.
Telecoms Minister Andimuthu Raja was sacked at the weekend over accusations he sold telecoms licences too cheaply, potentially losing the state up to $31 billion in revenues, according to a government audit. Raja has denied the accusations.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court took a rare step of publicly criticising Singh's slowness in deciding if Raja should be charged and investigated, a blow to the image of a prime minister seen as one of the country's most honest politicians.
"Manmohan Singh has certainly squandered some moral capital over this spectrum scandal," said an editorial in The Indian Express on Friday.
"The image of integrity is arguably the biggest strength he has, and by letting this scam fester for so long, the prime minister and the Congress party have put that at risk."
Attorney General GE Vahanvati must file an affidavit on behalf of Singh by Saturday, according to a court request.
Vahanvati will then defend the prime minister in person at the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Singh, who has not commented on the court criticism, is not expected to attend.
While Singh and his coalition government are likely to survive the scandal, the criticism has tarnished Singh's image and is expected to further weaken the federal government's ability to move key economic reforms through parliament.
The opposition wants a parliamentary probe after a report from the government auditor said the state may have lost up to $31 billion in revenues, roughly equivalent to the defence budget, in the granting of licences in 2007-2008.
Raja is accused of selling the licences at deliberately low prices to companies, some of which were ineligible, a charge he denies. The process also violated several rules, the report said.
Raja is a member of the DMK, a regional party from Tamil Nadu that helps give the Congress party a majority in parliament. The opposition has stalled parliament as it claims Singh failed to act because he feared upsetting his coalition partner.
"The desire to continue in office has made the leadership of this government a prisoner of coalition politics," Arun Jaitley, leader of the opposition in the upper house, told NDTV late on Thursday.
India was ranked 87th in Transparency International's 2010 ranking of nations based on the perceived level of corruption. India lies behind rival China, which is in 78th place
Source : Reuters
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