Close on the heels of Corporate Affairs Ministry turning down CBI’s request to question former coal secretary HC Gupta, in connection with the coal block allocation scam, the agency on Tuesday sent a fresh plea seeking permission to quiz the official, who is now a member of the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
In its fresh request, the CBI has underscored the need to question Gupta and has said that further probe into the coal block allocations could not go forward in the absence of his examination, CBI sources said.
The Corporate Affairs Ministry had shot down the CBI request to question Gupta last week. Gupta was coal secretary between 2006 and 2009 and the period is crucial since over 142 coal blocks were allocated in violation of the norms. The Coal Ministry was under the charge of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the period that is under the scanner of the CBI.
The sources said if the Government turns down the request for the second time to question Gupta, the agency would approach the Supreme Court for sanction to quiz the controversial officer.