PM in the dock on missing coal files

• Both Houses adjourned after furore
• Of 13 CBI cases, files relating to 11 are missing
• Missing files related to Naveen Jindal and Vijay Darda
• These files were signed by PM as coal minister

Anita Saluja

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is in the dock over the coalgate missing files issue, with the BJP-led Opposition demanding a reply from him and not letting parliament function, despite desperate attempts made by the Congress-led UPA Government to pass the flagship Food Security Bill.

Both the Houses of parliament were adjourned repeatedly and finally adjourned for the day. While in Lok the Sabha, the Opposition was not ready to listen to the reply of Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal, in the Rajya Sabha the reply of Jaiswal did not satisfy the Opposition, which insisted on a reply from Manmohan Singh, who was the then Coal Minister from 2006 to 2009. It was under his signatures that some of the allocations were made, whose files have gone missing.

The BJP on Tuesday demanded, “The Prime Minister must come out with the list of files requisitioned by the CBI, the files furnished by the government and the files not made available to the CBI.” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said that for the various files sought by the CBI, the words used were “missing, not traced, not located” and “still searching.” He said that all descriptions point to one thing, that of concealing evidence.

The UPA government first denied the coalgate scam; later, on the BJP representation to the CVC, the CBI probe was ordered. When the CBI status report came out, the government tried to tamper with it. Now, after due investigations, when the lie was to be nailed, the files went missing. Javadekar revealed that the CBI Director had revealed in one of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meetings that files during the period of 2006 to 2009 were not given to the CBI. In the Rajya Sabha, the entire Opposition joined hands to grill the Coal Minister, wanting answers from him on the missing files. Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley said that the evidence of the crime was in these files. If the files disappear, the possibility of destruction of evidence was also there. Jaiswal, however, stated that a committee was set up on the missing files and after it gave the report, action would be taken.

Jaitley objected to Jaiswal giving a statement on the missing files by pointing out that even the minister is accused of favouring his relatives in the allocations. He was supported by the other Opposition members, who wanted him to recuse himself, since a few of the beneficiaries in the coalgate allocations happened to be his relatives. It is alleged that out of the 13 companies against whom the CBI filed FIRs, files related to 11 are reportedly missing. Among them, one – Bander block in Maharashtra – was given to AMR Iron and Steel Private Limited, Nagpur. The directors of this company are Arvind Kumar Jayaswal, Manoj Jayaswal, Ramesh Jayaswal and Devendra Darda.

They all have close ties with Congress MP Vijay Darda and are relatives of the Coal Minister. Interestingly, another company, JLD Yavatmal Energy Limited which was allocated Fatehpur East Block in Chhattisgarh on January 23, 2008, is also alleged to have links with the Coal Minister. The Directors of this company are Vijay Darda, Rajendra Darda, Devendra Darda, Manoj Jayaswal, Anand Jayaswal and Abhishek Jayaswal. Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal countered Jaitley by saying that if proved that he was behind the allocation to a single company, he was ready to face any punishment and similarly the Leader of Opposition should let him know if he was also ready to face the consequences, if proved otherwise. According to Jaitley, there are three important targets of investigation – the beneficiaries, who got the coal block allocations, the Screening Committee, and the PMO.