The first salvo was fired by Jayalalitha who alleged yesterday that a powerful media baron had paid hefty bribes to somebody in the PMO to get Bezbaruah out.

The Congress, Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha, CPI and Janata Party have all now demanded an inquiry into the alleged bribe and a writ petition was filed in the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the transfer.

The petition was filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigations which has sought a stay on the August 14 transfer order and the consequent order appointing M C Joshi as the Acting Enforcement Director.

The petition also seeks restoration of the status quo ante as on August 12 in the EnforcementDirectorate.

The petition contends that by the abrupt transfer, the government is seeking to block the case against Jayalalitha and her associates.

It says that the transfer also sends a signal to law-enforcement agencies that they must abide by the wishes of, and follow the dictates of those in power and those supporting them, or face the threat of removal.

The political parties are saying pretty much the same with the important nuance of Jayalalitha's allegation being one of corruption in high places. It is the first time the AIADMK chief has raised corruption in the BJP, especially at the level of the PMO, and the Congress clearly sees this as a fit case for the AIADMK's withdrawal of support to the BJP-led coalition.The Congress, and other parties, apparently feel that this is an issue on which Jayalalitha can muster public support for her demand. Which is why the Congress quickly pounced on Jayalalitha's allegation.

``This is an extremely grave allegation and charge of corruption levelled by theleader of the most important ally of the present government against the office of the PM. It comes after Vajpayee's statement saying the PMO must come under the Lok Pal's purview. ``Therefore, we demand that a high-level probe by an independent agency be instituted into the corruption charges made by Jayalalitha,'' party spokesperson Ajit Jogi said today.

The Congress has also demanded that the government make public the ``details and background of the rationale of the recent transfers and reveal the identity of the person in the PMO mentioned by Jayalalitha. The party felt the BJP had violated the time-honoured tradition of not allowing transfers of civil servants to become controversial.

``It destroys the confidence of civil servants and political executives and thoroughly demoralises them. It is therefore tragic that the Vajpayee government has allowed the recent transfers to become highly controversial,'' Jogi added.

The Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha, comprising the Samajwadi Party, RJD, JMM (Soren),RJP and Buta Singh, has also demanded a probe into the transfers saying the CBI must look into it. In Calcutta, CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan also demanded a thorough probe into the allegation of corruption which influenced the transfers to ``cover up'' cases against powerful vested interests.

Bardhan said the government had the prerogative to transfer officials but the group of transfers in question could not be justified on that plea. The transfers were motivated and carried out with a purpose, he said adding the serious allegation made by Jayalalitha that a newspaper owner charged with FERA violation paid hefty bribes to persons close to the PM to get Bezbaruah transferred, could not be brushed aside.

Bardhan has apparently sent a telegram to Vajpayee demanding a thorough probe into this.

The catch here is that this is the first charge levelled by Jayalalitha which has the support of almost all major Opposition parties and this could well be the beginning of big trouble for the BJP-ledcoalition.