NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, weakened by a corruption scandal involving his sacked telecoms minister, told the Supreme Court yesterday he had done nothing wrong and had followed correct procedures.
In a rare move, the Supreme Court this week reprimanded Singh for failing to probe ex-telecoms minister Andimuthu Raja over allegations he had sold licences too cheaply. The court demanded Singh himself explain what had happened, tarnishing his squeaky-clean image.
While Singh and his coalition government are likely to survive the scandal, the criticism is expected to further weaken the federal government’s ability to move key economic reforms through parliament.
Yesterday, an affidavit, seen by Reuters, was presented to the country’s top court by Singh’s representative, Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati. The document said the prime minister had done “all that was required in the interest of probity.“
Corruption has long been a major problem in India, recognised by all political parties. The ruling Congress party has pledged to crack down on graft, but it has been put on the defensive in recent weeks when it was forced to fire three senior officials over corruption allegations, including the problem-riddled Commonwealth Games.
India was ranked 87th in Transparency International’s 2010 ranking of 178 nations based on the perceived level of corruption, or almost in the middle of the index. Rival China is ranked higher, at number 78.
