Amid comments made by former Coal Secretary PC Parakh that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was also responsible for alleged irregularities in issuing a block to Kumar Mangalam Birla-led Hindalco, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal on Tuesday described the former bureaucrat as a ‘daydreamer’ or ‘Sheikh Chilli’.
The Minister backed the statement made by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), which said that Singh took the decision based on the merits of the case.“Sheikh chilliyon ke dwara diye gaye kisi bayan par koi comment hum nahi karna chahte (I do not want to comment on statements given by daydreamers),” he told reporters in a Press conference.
The Coal Minister was responding when asked to comment on statements made by PC Parakh on the allocation of Talabira II coal block to Aditya Birla Group firm Hindalcoin 2005.
The CBI has named Parakh and Hindalco Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla in its FIR on alleged irregularities in the allocation, triggering an outrage in the corporate sector.
In response to the FIR, Parakh had said that the Prime Minister, who had held the coal portfolio when the allocation was made, was equally responsible for any irregularity.
Defending the Prime Minister, Jaiswal said he fully agreed with the statement issued by the PMO on October 19 that the allocation was made following due process of law and the merits of the case.
The decision was primarily based on a strong recommendation for such an allocation by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
“I cent per cent agree with the statement issued by the PMO,” Jaiswal said. The Minister, however, refused to comment on the CBI filing the FIR in which Birla was named, saying the inquiry was “being monitored by the Supreme Court”.
He however cautioned that steps affecting investor sentiment should not be taken and no one should issue statements that affect the country's industrialisation or any particular category of people.
“The Coal Ministry is of a view that we should not do anything which affects investment atmosphere of the nation,” he said when asked if the naming of India's third most prominent industrialist would dampen investment climate.
On October 16 Parakh had said, “There is KM Birla who made the representation, he is one conspirator. I, who examined the case and made a recommendation, I can be another conspirator and the Prime Minister, who as the Coal Minister, took the final decision, is the third conspirator.”
Asked whether the Coal Ministry is cooperating with the CBI on the missing files issue as some documents are still untraceable, Jaiswal said, “The Ministry is extending its full support in the investigation. Almost all the documents/files have been handed over.”