In a damning admission that exposes Government’s interference in the coalgate probe, the CBI informed the Supreme Court on Friday that the Prime Minister’s Office, law Minister and Coal Ministry went through the status report before it was submitted to the Supreme court on March 8.
The two-page affidavit filed by CBI Director Ranjit Sinha also exposed the fact that on the last date of hearing on March 12 the CBI misled the court by claiming the report was not shared with any political executive. When the matter comes up for hearing on April 30, petitioners are likely to press charges of contempt of court against the CBI.
There could be a major embarrassment for the Government as well since the CBI has clearly stated in its latest affidavit that they shared the report with PMO and ministries at their directive. The matter is all the more serious because the CBI was probing the role of the very Coal Ministry and the PMO in the coalgate allotment.
The CBI affidavit stated that before the status report of March 8, 2013 was presented to the court, the draft report was shared with the Union law Minster Ashwini Kumar as desired by him. Sinha said, “I submit that the draft of the same (Status Report of March 8) was shared with Union Minister for law and Justice as desired by him prior to its submission before this court.”
However, the affidavit is silent on what transpired in the meeting or the changes made to the draft before its final submission in the court. The affidavit said, “Besides the political executive, it (report) was also shared with one Joint Secretary-level officer each of PMO and Ministry of Coal as desired by them.”
On March 12, when the apex bench headed by Justice RM lodha wished to know if the report prepared by the CBI was shared with the political executive, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Harin Raval, on behalf of the agency, stated that the reports were vetted at the level of CBI Director and “no portion of the report was shared with executive”.
With a fresh status report filed along with its present affidavit, the CBI Director claimed that the past mistake had not been repeated. He assured the court, “In respect of further status reports of the investigation and enquiries required to be filed in this matter before this court, I undertake and assure this court that the same shall not be shared with any political executive.”