Always presumed guilty. Unless.

British Energy Secretary, Chris Huhne has resigned to appear in court on charges of perverting the course of justice over claims by his ex wife that he made her accept 3 penalty points on her driving licence for speeding in 2003. She claims that Huhne was picked up by cameras speeding out of an airport and would have been banned from driving so she accepted 3 penalty points on her licence on his behalf. Essex Police have been investigating for 8 months and have now decided to charge Mr Huhne. In the US, an American student of Indian origin has complained to the Education Department of Civil Rights that he was rejected by Harvard and Princeton even though he was near top of his class. Apparently students who are white, hispanic or black gain admission with lower SAT scores than Asian Americans. Although both Harvard and Princeton have denied any such policy the complaint is being investigated. Here in India, Civil Aviation Minister has instantly ruled out any Air India investigation into claims that his predecessor at the ministry accepted bribes. Globe and Mail newspaper in Canada has reported that a Canadian citizen of Indian origin, Nazir Karigar took $250,000 from Cryptometrics of USA to pay Mr Patel, now Minister for Heavy Industries. He told the company that he had passed on the money to Mr Patel through his political ally, Laxman Dhoble. The bribe was to get a contract for a face recognition system for Air India. In the event Air India dropped plans for the system. Cryptometrics is now suing Mr Karigar in the Supreme Court of New York so more excreta is sure to hit the fan. Mr Patel has naturally vehemently denied any wrongdoing. Politicians in India do not seem to understand that denying a crime is no defence. Indians will believe allegations of any crime against any politician, so low is their opinion of these scoundrels. People will only believe if a thorough unbiased investigation reveals no wrongdoing. As in the case of Mr Huhne, Mr Patel can continue in office while investigations are going on and resign only if there is a strong case to answer. However, such will not happen and politicians of every ilk will try and prevent any investigation. Mr Patel should get his suit dry cleaned to answer a subpoena from the Supreme Court in New York. Meanwhile, unless you prove your innocence we shall believe you are guilty.