Coalgate report vetted to save PM?

SC asks CBI to file an affidavit declaring that no changes were made

• The Prime Minister was holding the Coal portfolio when the Rs 1.85 lakh crore scam took place as per CAGA
• Oppn cries foul, says CBI is under pressureA
• Jaitley wants SIT to probe the matter

A day before the CBI status report was filed in the Supreme Court, it was not only vetted at the highest level but was altered. CBI officials were called to the law ministers office where several amendments in the status report were suggested and some were also reportedly incorporated by the CBI. Venkat Parsa New Delhi: The government has come under fire for its alleged vetting of the CBI status report to the Supreme Court in the coal blocks allocation scam, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was holding charge of the Coal Ministry during 2006-09. A day before the CBI status report was filed in the Supreme Court, it was not only vetted at the highest level but was altered. During the meeting, several amendments in the status report were suggested and some were also reportedly incorporated by the CBI. The changes were apparently made to save the Prime Minister. Significantly, the Supreme Court Bench, comprising Justice R M Lodha, Justice J Challameshwar and Justice B Lokur had directed CBI Director Ranjit Sinha to file an affidavit affirming that the status report submitted by the agency to the Apex Court in a sealed cover had not been shared with the political executive. According to a media report, the PMO and Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar had both vetted the CBI status report to the Supreme Court. It stated that senior CBI officials, including Ranjit Sinha, were summoned by Law Minister Ashwani Kumar a day before the status report was filed. CPM Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said it was a very serious matter and it would be raised in parliament, as the Budget Session was set to resume on April 22. Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj said on Twitter, "This is a very serious matter. This is evidence of the government's pressure on the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to save the Prime Minister." Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said, "The news report indicates that the status report which the CBI has to place before the Supreme Court with regard to the coal scam had first been approved, altered, changed and diluted with political interference which has come from the Law Minister and the Prime Minister. This is now conclusive that the farce of being autonomous, which the CBI had maintained has been demolished. The CBI cannot go to the root of the matter, cannot find out the truth. Even if the CBI wants, the UPA, a rogue government, will not allow it to do that. These facts conclusively show that CBI will not be honestly allowed to probe the case. A Special Investigation Team should probe the matter." Congress Spokesman Rashid Alvi said, "There will be clarity on the matter when the CBI will place its affidavit before the court. The CBI works independently. They are not under pressure." The CAG Report last year revealed that the lack of transparency in the allocation of coal blocks to private players resulted in the loss of a whopping Rs 1.85 lakh crore to the exchequer, as on March 11, 2011. The CAG Report does not directly indict the Prime Minister or the PMO, but during the time when the mining blocks were allotted, the Coal Ministry charge was held by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh between July 2004 and May 2009. Meanwhile, the CBI termed as "speculative" reports about alleged political interference in the agency's probe into the coal blocs allocation scam. "The reports are speculative. We are yet to file an affidavit before the Supreme Court," CBI Director Ranjit Sinha said on Saturday when asked about his reaction.