A Major terror plot foiled; 2 LeT agents held

A major terror attack was foiled on Tuesday in the capital with security agencies arresting two Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives who had planned to trigger explosions in crowded localities in the next few days.

Police said the attacks were "very imminent" and both the arrested, whose identity was withheld, were Indian citizens, one of whom was trained in Pakistan in bomb-making and using weapons.

"It is a very important breakthrough," Home Minister P Chidambaram told reporters today while complimenting security agencies.

Giving only brief details about the case as operation was still continuing to nab more terrorists of the module, Delhi Police Commissioner B K Gupta said the duo were apprehended from Tughlaqabad Extension in south Delhi yesterday following inputs from central intelligence agencies and cooperation of police in Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir.

"The arrest of LeT terrorists is a good catch," Gupta said adding the police has got "valuable evidence" from the memory card seized from the duo.

The two LeT militants have been identified as Ethisham and Shafaqat.

Investigators have seized a memory card, a matrix (code language used for communication), mobiles and explosives, including sulphuric acide, used for making bombs, P N Aggarwal, Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), said.

Sources said five mobile phones were seized from the accused apart from the memory card which had footages of terror training camps and fabrication of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) besides how to fire AK-47s.

However, both Gupta and Aggarwal refused to provide the names of the arrested saying it could affect the ongoing operations to arrest "one or two more terrorists in the module".

They were produced in chambers before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Smita Garg who sent them to ten day police custody. Police ensured that the two did not attract any media attention and used the back door to enter and exit the court.

Aggarwal said one of the arrested persons has gone to Pakistan in December 2011 on valid travel documents and returned last month with a mission to carry out a terror strike in Delhi in the very near future.

Asked whether the arrested persons were involved in the recent attack on Israeli embassy car, he said, he did not think so.

Earlier, Chidambaram said, "there was no VVIP on their target."

"They were planning to detonate a bomb or more than one bomb in crowded localities," he said, adding more details would come after their detailed questioning.

Some more people have been detained in this connection, he said.

Mamata Banerjee will skip inauguration ceremony of NSG hub today

A day after opposing the proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) along with six other chief ministers, Mamata Banerjee will on today skip the inauguration ceremony of a National Security Guards (NSG) hub near here.

The NSG hub at Badu in North 24 Parganas district will be inaugurated by Home Minister P Chidambaram, who had mooted the idea to set up an anti-terror intelligence hub, named NCTC.

The development comes as another setback to the Congress-TMC alliance which has been going through a rough patch for quite some time.

Banerjee on Friday, along with her counterparts from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha and Tamil Nadu, came out against a the setting up of NCTC from March 1, saying such a powerful body would infringe upon the rights of states.

In Andhra Pradesh, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu also spoke out against the anti-terror body.

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government tried to play down the issue, with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee saying a decision would be taken after studying the criticism.

Led by the most vocal Naveen Patnaik of Odisha, the chief ministers declared that they were against the NCTC because they had not been consulted before New Delhi notified it.

In separate letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, six of them complained that the proposed NCTC would infringe on the federal structure and the rights of state governments.

The powerful anti-terror agency, a brainchild of Chidambaram, will integrate and analyse inputs on terror threats in India. It becomes functional on March 1.

It allows Central government agencies to make arrests or searches in terrorism-hit states without seeking permission from their governments.

SC decision on plea for probe against Chidambaram today

The Supreme Court will Today pronounce its judgements on the petitions seeking a direction for a probe into the alleged role of Home Minister P Chidambaram in the 2G spectrum scam and for cancellation of 122 radiowave licences granted during the tenure of A Raja as Telecom Minister.

The SC will also deliver its judgment on another plea for setting up a a special investigation team (SIT) in view of the “slipshod” probe conducted by the CBI in the 2G case.

The judgements will be pronounced by a bench comprising justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly which had reserved its verdict on the plea for probe against Chidambaram and for cancellation of licences of spectrum on October 10 and March 17 respectively last year.

The unanimous verdicts on both the petitions would be pronounced by Justice Singhvi.

Since Justice Ganguly is retiring Thursday, he will be sitting in a bench headed by Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia.

The petitions on both the issues were filed by NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) and a petitioner.

The role of Chidambaram in the 2G scam was raised in the Supreme Court by the petitioners who had pointed out that there was evidence on record showing that the decision regarding pricing of spectrum was taken jointly by him and Raja.

A Finance Ministry note to the PMO signed by Pranab Mukherjee was also taken on record by the apex court in which it was stated that the scam could have been averted had Chidambram suggested the policy of auction instead of first-come-first-served policy on allocation of spectrum.

The Centre and CBI had vehemently opposed any probe against Chidambram who was the Finance Minister at the time of allotment of spectrum in 2008.

They had maintained that Chidambaram was not in direct communication with the then Telecom Minister A Raja in determining the price of the radio waves.

However, the petitioners had refuted the claims of CBI and the Centre that Chidambaram was not in the picture till January, 10, 2008, when the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) headed by Raja issued 122 Letters of Intent (LoIs) to telecom companies without following the policy of auction.

The petitioners including CPIL's counsel Prashant Bhushan had contended Chidambaram was "consistently" informed of what was going on and "till November 30, 2007, Chidambaram was apprised of what Raja was upto".

They further said the Finance Ministry officials were for allocation of spectrum through auction but they were overruled by Chidambaram.

Union Cabinet to fine-tune Lokpal Bill today

The Union Cabinet is expected to consider Monday the much-awaited Lokpal Bill that is likely to bring Prime Minister under the proposed anti-graft ombudsman with certain conditions and provide for creation of an independent prosecution directorate.

The bill, which is expected to be tabled in Parliament before the end of the current session, is being fine-tuned by an informal group of ministers comprising Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister P Chidambaram, Law Minister Salman Khurshid and MoS Personnel V Narayanasamy.

The Cabinet, which met last night, saw some deliberations on the legislation but the detailed note on the subject is expected to formally come up before Cabinet meeting today, possibly in the evening.

Prior to that, the ministers concerned are expected to brief Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the changes being made in the Lokpal Bill, sources said.

While the bill will see incorporation of recommendations made by the Parliamentary Standing Committee which examined it, the government has made it clear that it was open to other ideas that emanated at the all-party meeting convened by the Prime Minister on Wednesday.

"You all know that how many days are left (for Parliament session). We have literally worked day and night to ensure that we meet the deadlines," Law Minister Salman Khurshid told reporters today.

"Let us just get the Bill done and bring it to the Cabinet so that it can be brought before Parliament as quickly as possible," he said amid the looming threat of Anna Hazare to go on hunger strike from December 27 if the legislation is not enacted by then.

Referring to the various proposals floating around, Khurshid said, "the Government is not taking up anything as outstanding view but fine-tuning keeping in mind the basic structure of the law... to ensure that we take public confidence with us because we are also determined and committed to a very powerful Lokpal Bill."

Notwithstanding the demands for bringing CBI under Lokpal, the government is averse to this and instead is contemplating a provision for creating an independent "Directorate of Prosecution", carving it out from CBI.

Accordingly, the Bill is likely to suggest that the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act be amended, sources said.

The bill is also expected to provide for removal of the Lokpal Chairman or member if a joint complaint is made by at least 100 MPs.

The legislation also is likely to provide for 50 per cent reservation to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, OBCs, minorities and women in the Lokpal bench on the lines of demand raised by almost all the parties, except BJP, at Wednesday's meeting, the sources said.

With regard to demand for inclusion of Group 'C' employees, the sources said discussions are underway to create an "appropriate mechanism" for this.

One of the suggestions in this regard is placing them under the purview of the CVC who would be asked to report the progress on anti-corruption cases to Lokpal. The Parliamentary Committee had recommended reservation for SCs, STs, OBCs, minorities and women in the Search Committee which will assist the Selection Committee to select Lokpal. However, it was silent on reservation in the Lokpal.

If reservation is provided in the Lokpal panel, it will become the first Constitutional body to have the provision.

On the issue of PM, the Standing Committee had refused to take a position but recommended three options – inclusion without exception and qualifications, inclusion with no exclusionary caveats but after demitting office and inclusion with exclusions on issues like national security and foreign affairs and some others.

Making CBI, or its anti-corruption wing, a part of Lokpal still remains a contentious issue.

The Lokpal Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha in August this year says that "Lokpal shall constitute an Investigation Wing for the purpose of conducting investigation of any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988."

Several parties, however, are insisting that CBI's anti-corruption wing should be under Lokpal to give it teeth. On the inclusion of group C employees under the ambit of Lokpal, one of the options with the government is recommendation of the Parliamentary Standing Committee which had recommended a "broad supervisory fusion at the apex level" by some changes in the CVC Act.

"The CVC should be made to file periodical reports, say every three months, to the Lokpal in respect of action taken for these class C and D categories.

"On these reports, the Lokpal shall be entitled to make comments and suggestions for improvement and strengthening the functioning of CVC, which in turn, shall file, appropriate action taken reports with the Lokpal," it had recommended. It had also recommended "appropriate increase" in the strength of the CVC manpower.