Poor taste

Sir — This refers to the report, “Coal Minister calls Parakh ‘Sheikh Chilli’” (October 23). It is beyond belief that Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal, a member of the Union Cabinet, could be so insensitive and crude as to ridicule a retired, reputedly honest, former bureaucrat.

Mr Jaiswal is desperate to defend Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has much to answer on the coal block allocation scam. Mr Parakh is right when he says that if he is involved in a conspiracy with Hindalco chief Kumar Mangalam Birla, as an FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation alleges, Prime Minister Singh, who was then the Coal Minister, too cannot escape responsibility and accountability.