Probe Manmohan Singh’s role in coal scam
After former Coal Secretary PC Parakh's explosive comments on the role of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the coal block allocation irregularities, there is no way that the latter can get away with his trademark silence. Mr Parakh has raised pertinent issues, the most important being that the allegedly illegal allocation of blocks happened after the Prime Minister approved it on the files concerned. It may be argued that, finding himself in the dock, the former Coal Secretary is seeking to muddy the waters by dragging in Mr Singh's name. But that does not in any way blunt his observation that the Prime Minister should at the very least be named as one of the “conspirators” in the scam. While it is for the Central Bureau of Investigation which is probing the issue and the Supreme Court which is monitoring the inquiry to take a call on the matter, the Prime Minister should not escape investigation.
Until now, the probe agency has been going after all and sundry — including now one of the country's prominent industrialists — except the person who took the final decision which led to the massive irregularities that the Comptroller and Auditor-General has exposed. As Coal Minister in the period when the blocks were allotted in a haphazard fashion, Mr Singh could have prevented the wrongdoing by overruling his Secretary and the various vested interests who had lobbied to get their way. That he did not, or could not, because of directions from some quarters, is apparent. The Prime Minister is not above the law and he must be subjected to an inquiry similar to what others who are said to be complicit in the irregularities, are undergoing. The First Information Report that the CBI has registered, says that Mr Parakh had initially denied coal blocks to an industrial group but he later did a U-turn and “abused his position”. On his part, the former Coal Secretary has naturally denied any wrongdoing, but added the caveat that if he had erred, the Prime Minister was to blame as well, since he approved it.
Two questions arise here: What made the then Coal Secretary capitulate in July 2005IJ Why did the Prime Minister, who was then the Coal Minister too, not shoot down a proposal which was obviously flawed and not in accordance with the screening committee's observationsIJ The CBI has gone to great lengths to elaborate on a meeting between the head of an industrial group and Mr Parakh, following which, the probe agency claims in the FIR, the latter recommended the allocation of certain coal blocks to the business house. But the investigation agency refuses to look beyond and strike at the root of the issue. That should not surprise anyone.
From the start, the CBI has tried to make a hash of the matter, playing into the hands of the Congress-led UPA Government. It allowed an affidavit in the case to be vetted by then Union Minister for law and Justice Ashwani Kumar, although it had no business doing so because it was answerable to the court and none else on the issue. It tried to obfuscate by dragging into the probe allocations made during the tenure of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA. All these efforts were to keep the incumbent Prime Minister out of the storm. But despite, or because of, these brazen tactics, Mr Singh's image has sunk to irretrievable levels.