The BJP-led Opposition mounted a scathing attack on the Government in the Rajya Sabha too on the issue of the missing Coalgate files. It did not allow the House to run demanding a statement from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as he was heading the Coal Ministry when the scam took place.
Coal Minister Sri Prakash Jaiswal was also not allowed to give a statement about the missing files as the agitated members urged him to recuse himself because his name also figured in the scam.
Jaiswal, however, did not oblige the Opposition and read out the statement which lacked in specifics including the number of files missing. He was also unable to reply to a specific query by leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley if any files post 2004 were missing. The BJP leader also charged the Minister with trying to mislead the House on this count.
Jaitley raised this point when Jaiswal and some members from treasury benches tried to hint that most of the missing files pertained to pre-2004 period when the NDA was in power and pointed a needle of suspicion towards the erstwhile Vajpayee dispensation.
The House witnessed sharp exchanges between Jaitley and Jaiswal after the BJP leader asked the Minister to refrain from making the statement as media reports indicated that one of the beneficiaries of the coal block allocation was somebody with whom the Coal Minister was related.
“If files relating to that allocation are missing, should he be making a statement on those filesIJ I want to know from the Chair that on account of this conflict of interest, should he make the statement... If not direct, it is a case of indirect involvement,” said Jaitley.
The Minister denied the charge and said he was willing to undergo any punishment. Jaiswal then dared Jaitley to spell out steps he would take if his charges are found incorrect.
Jaitley alleged “files do not disappear. They are made to disappear” and those files contain evidence of arbitrary allotments. The evidence of crime is in those files. If files disappear, the possibility of their escaping the punishment for a crime is obviously there.”
Jaitley sought to know if the Coal Ministry had filed an FIR. CPM leader Sitaram Yechury echoed similar views. “The House must know how these files are missing. It is appropriate
that the then Minister in-charge should make the statement how the files went missing,” he said in apparent reference to the Prime Minister who was then also the Coal Minister.
Defending the Government, Jaiswal said, “All efforts are being made to locate documents which are not readily available... My Ministry would leave no stone unturned in tracing and providing the documents sought by the CBI,” he said, adding a total of 769 files and documents running into 1.5 lakh pages have been handed over to the investigating agency.