DGH V K Sibal is showing unnecessary aggression for a man caught in a cleft stick. I guess he is opting for the old tactic of attack being the best defence. Seeking an extension, Sibal who is battling favouritism and corruption charges is in the dock for helping Reliance Industries gold plate its KG D 6 capex development plan. By putting out a full page advertisement in the national dailies, he is burning a hole in tax payers money. The advert comes a day after the Central Vigilance Commissioner asked the CBI to probe allegations of favours received by the oil regulator from RIL for approving a near four fold hike in the oil field development plan.
This comes quickly on the heels of a Pioneer expose on the nexus between Sibal and RIL and charges of Sibal's daughters enjoying the hospitality of RIL in Mumbai. Sibal when contacted by Pioneer in his usual bluster did not deny that his daughters had stayed in RIL guest houses while studying and working in the city. But as a government regulator in an age of austerity, this nexus is going to cost Sibal dearly. Talk in the capital is that Sibal will not get an extension after October 31 and the feeble attempts at putting out an advertisement in the press don't count at this stage.
We wonder whether the oil minister Murli Deora approved this insertion by the DGH and whether L N Gupta, CVO in the oil ministry knew of this advertisement. Austerity be damned as the independent republic of oil ministry continues in its merry ways.
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