CBI does not rule out quizzing PM

• Files status report on coal scam in SC
• Status report relates to all 14 FIRs filed in coalgate and the missing files
• CBI asks for all relevant files on Hindalco from PMO
• Apex court to take up CBI report on Oct. 29

The CBI is not ruling out the possibility of questioning Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for favouring Kumar Manglam Birla-owned Hindalco in the allocation of two Talabira coal blocks in Odisha in 2005. On Tuesday, the CBI filed a status report in the Supreme Court, giving an update on the investigations so far.

It also sent a letter to the PMO, asking for all the “relevant files” relating to Hindalco. It is keen to know the procedure followed by the “competent authority,” in the allocation of the coal mines to Hindalco, how the recommendation was made and who was the ultimate signatory. The apex court will take up the report on October 29. “Depending on the documents, we will pursue the case,” stated a CBI source to The Hans India. It may be recalled that the issue of Prime Minister being questioned in the coalgate figured in the Monsoon Session of parliament. Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj had asked the Prime Minister to volunteer himself for CBI questioning in the wake of the reports that CBI investigating officer K R Chaurasia had documented the “requirement” to question him. CBI Director Ranjit Sinha had, however, felt that it was unnecessary at that stage. The status report handed over in a sealed cover to the apex court is understood to have given the details about the 14 FIRs filed in the coalgate case, investigations carried out so far, the status of the missing files and about the last FIR that alleges that former Coal Secretary P C Parakh abused his position to favour Birla-owned Hindalco. The FIR lodged on October 14 had stated that the Hindalco did not fulfil the requirements of coal block but was unduly favoured by the government. It got a better deal at the cost of PSU Neyveli Lignite Corporation.

Interestingly, two Union Ministers on Tuesday defended the stand taken by the Prime Minister. While Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal declared that the Prime Minister was ready to cooperate with CBI’s investigation, Minister of State in PMO V Narayanswami emphasised that the Prime Minister had nothing to hide in the coal scam. Sriprakash Jaiswal revealed that almost all the missing files had been traced by the government. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath is already on record to state, “The PM is a citizen of the country; the law applies to him equally. If the CBI believes it is going to assist their investigation, they can ask him some questions, he will certainly reply.”

The UPA government had received the drubbing from the Supreme Court on August 29 on the missing files on Coalgate and for not sharing the information with the CBI. Holding that the missing documents are vital for the probe in the scam, the court had asked the Coal Ministry to lodge a complaint with the CBI if it fails to trace any documents, sought by the agency. The CBI, similarly, was pulled up by the apex court, which observed that the agency was still in the “first gear” in its probe and needed to pick up speed. It directed the CBI to conclude the probe against all companies that were allocated coal blocks by December and had asked it to file the status report on the issue by October 22.