The CBI may question Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in connection with the alleged irregularity in allotment of a coal block to Hindalco. Patnaik has come under the CBI scanner for recommending a coal block for Hindalco.
Patnaik had written a letter in May 2005 to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) recommending allocation of the Odisha-based Talabira II coal block to Hindalco whose application was turned down by the 25th Screening Committee.
Hindalco, Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and the then Coal Secretary PC Parekh have been booked for criminal conspiracy in allocation of the coal block.
After scrutinising the seized documents, the sleuths stumbled upon the letter written by Patnaik requesting for a relook and reversing rejection of Hindalco’s application for Talabira II block.
When asked if Patnaik would be questioned for recommending a coal block for Hindalco, CBI Director Ranjit Sinha told reporters: “Whoever will be required for investigation in the case, will be questioned.”
Rubbishing Parekh’s charge that the CBI was selective in booking him, Sinha said: “There is a case registered as per the directions of the Supreme Court, we are investigating it. Parekh made a U-turn by first rejecting the application of Hindalco and then allotting the block to it. If he explains the U-turn and if there is no material evidence against him, we may file a closure report as we have done in many cases.”
The CBI FIR has alleged that Birla had written two letters to the “competent authority” (PMO) requesting for allocation of Talabira II coal block. The letters were forwarded to the Coal Ministry. Birla also met Parekh in July 2005 and requested for allocation of the coal block to Hindalco.
“Pursuant to these letters and the personal meeting between Parekh and Birla, Parekh, by abusing his official position as a public servant, recommended the allocation of Talabira II along with Talabira III coal block to Hindalco Industries limited, along with other two companies without any valid basis or change in circumstances and with the sole intention to show undue favours to Hindalco Industries limited,” the agency alleged in its FIR. The former Coal Secretary has said if he was a conspirator, so was PM Manmohan Singh, as he had signed the allocation letter to Hindalco.
The agency, meanwhile, has started scrutinising the documents recovered from searches at the five offices of Hindalco and residence of Parekh in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
The CBI recovered Rs25 crore unaccounted cash, Rs24 lakh in loose cash, National Savings Certificates and Kisan Vikas Patras worth Rs17 lakh and retail invoices regarding purchase of gold coins worth Rs94 lakh from Hindalco offices. The sleuths took over 12 hours in counting the cash seized during the searches.
CBI sources said Parekh was examined by the CBI as part of the PE.
Meanwhile, the petitioner Ml Sharma who had challenged coal block allocation during the UPA regime moved the Supreme Court on Thursday seeking a CBI probe against PM Manmohan Singh.
Following the CBI case against Birla and Parekh in a coal block allocation case in favour of Hindalco, Sharma produced excerpts of an interview given by the then Coal Secretary in which he said that PM Manmohan Singh who held the Coal Portfolio, should also be treated as conspirator.
Sharma in his application claimed that Singh knew of the coal blocks being allocated to Hindalco and that he too should be named as an accused.
The petitioner said: “PM Singh was in direct charge of the Coal Ministry as Coal Minister in 2005 and had decided to allot the coal block to various allottees including Hindalco.”
The application is expected to be taken up for hearing on October 29 when the matter is slated to be heard by the special bench monitoring the probe in the coal scam.