The BJP on Monday vociferously raised in the Rajya Sabh the issue of crucial files of Coal Ministry missing in the Rajya Sabha and alleged it was a conspiracy to save the Prime Minister in the multi-crore coal block allocation scam being probed by the CBI.
The Opposition also demanded a reply from the Prime Minister or the Coal Minister on the issue. Responding to the demand, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajeev Shukla assured the House that Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal will make a statement on the issue but gave no time frame.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Dharmendra Pradhan (BJP) said such an incident has never happened earlier and the government needs to reply. “This is a conspiracy...It is an attempt to save the PM,” Pradhan said.
He also sought to know if the coal department had a hand in missing of files to brush under the carpet irregularities by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who earlier held the Coal portfolio.
leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley said, “There are three powerful targets of investigation - the beneficiaries who benefited from coal block allocations, the screening committee which allotted the mines and the Minister, the Minister’s office and the PMO - and suddenly the files are missing...The Government must respond...Otherwise you eliminate the evidence and then say no crime is committed.”
As BJP raised a din demanding an immediate response over the issue and Shukla said the Minister will make a statement in the House, Deputy Chairman P J Kurien observed that it is a Zero Hour issue and the Government is not obliged to answer.
“It acquires all the seriousness. The Minister or the Prime Minister should have come to the House to make a statement,” said Venkaiah Naidu, asking the Chair to give a direction to the Government.