In a sense, the Government was asking for the Supreme Court (SC)'s unprecedentedly vehement strictures against the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on the unconscionable delay of 18 months in dealing with Dr Subramanian Swamy's request for sanction to prosecute the former Minister of Telecommunications, Mr A. Raja. The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, could not have been unaware of the lethargic and insensitive handling of matters by bureaucrats functioning right under his nose.