The CBI on Friday registered two Preliminary Enquiries to probe the issue of missing coal block allocation files from the Coal Ministry.
“Two Preliminary Enquiries (PEs) have been registered by the CBI against unknown persons in the missing coal files case. First PE is for the period between 1993 and 2005 and the second PE is for the period between 2006 and 2009,” CBI spokesperson Kanchan Prasad said. CBI sources said the agency received a letter from the Coal Ministry on Tuesday about some of the files traced, but remained silent on the missing files. Following this, CBI sleuths held a meeting with Coal Ministry officials on Friday regarding the files that remain untraceable.
The CBI had sought 29 files relating to the 2006-09 period, out of which about 18 files are still untraceable. There are 69 files relating to the 1993-2005 period that have been requisitioned by the CBI. As an outcome of the meeting, the agency decided to split its enquiry in two parts, files relating to allocations done during the period spanning from 2006-09 in which CBI has registered 13 FIRs so far and files related to the period between 1993 and 2005 in which no FIR has been registered, the sources said.
Sources said the agency decided to proceed with the PE as there was not enough material to register a regular case or FIR. The Coal Ministry has claimed that some of the files requisitioned by the CBI are not in existence and this claim was probed as part of the PE. Files relating to the 2006-09 period that are yet to be traced include final minutes of the 26th Screening Committee, draft minutes and revised draft minutes of the 34th Screening Committee and Scrutiny Report of financial experts of Coal India ltd (CIl) on the financial worthiness of JlD Yavatmal and Green Infrastructure.
Congress MP Vijay Darda's recommendation letter for allocation of Bander coal block to AMR Iron and Steel, an accused company, is also missing. CBI is looking for crucial records related to 13 ongoing cases filed by it in connection with the coal blocks allocation scam and the related PE. More cases could be registered if the files are traced. The list of documents sought by CBI include those relating to allotments made to Tata Sponge Iron Private limited, Jharkhand Ispat Private limited and the agenda form sent by the company to Under Secretary SK Kakkar.
During the meeting with CBI sleuths, Coal Ministry officials told the agency that a search for the missing files was conducted in its offices and that of CIl and its subsidiary CMPDIl in Kolkata and Ranchi respectively with “utmost sincerity” and that there was no “malafide intention” on its part in not tracing them. While there are some other files which are still to be recovered, the status of the three key files is shrouded in mystery and the Coal Ministry seems to be mum about its whereabouts.