Former Coal Secretary’s claim triggers political row; Opp seeks PM's resignation
Former Coal Secretary PC Parekh's demand for the inclusion of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's name as a conspirator in the coal scam has triggered a political row with the Opposition demanding PM's resignation.
Parekh told reporters in Hyderabad, “If there is a conspiracy, then there are different members in this conspiracy. There is KM Birla, who made the representation, he is one conspirator. I, who examined the case and made a recommendation, can be another conspirator, and the Prime Minister, who as the Coal Minister took the final decision, is the third conspirator.”
“Therefore, if there is a conspiracy, all of us should be made accused,” Parekh added.Asked whether the PM should be named as the 'first conspirator', he said, “Must be. He is the final decision maker... responsibility lies with the Prime Minister as he could have overruled me. It was ultimately his responsibility as the Coal Minister.”
He said if the CBI thinks there is a conspiracy, “Why did they choose and select Birla and me and not the PM. If conspiracy is there, then everyone is part of the conspiracy.” He termed the allocation to Aditya Birla Group company as a “fair decision”.
The Opposition, including the BJP and the CPI(M) demanded Singh's resignation saying he cannot escape responsibility in the alleged irregularities in the coal block allocations that were made when he headed the Coal Ministry.
The CBI, meanwhile, is gearing up to question Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and Parekh early next week in connection with the alleged irregular allocation of Odisha-based Talabira II coal block to Hindalco ltd in 2005.
The CBI had booked Birla, Parekh and Hindalco in its 14th FIR relating to irregular coal block allocation on Monday and had conducted coordinated searches at six locations in Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.
The CBI claimed to have recovered incriminating documents and over Rs 25 crore unaccounted cash from Hindalco's office at the third floor of the UCO Bank building on Parliament Street here. This is one of the biggest recoveries made by any department in the recent past.
CBI spokesperson said, “The unaccounted cash of over Rs 25 crore has been handed over to the Income Tax Department for further probe.”
The BJP reiterated its demand for the PM's resignation and rued that FIR has been lodged against an officer who suggested auction for coal blocks. “The time has come for Parekh to speak up. He has spoken a little; he should come out clean now, make public statements of how files were disposed off at that time (when PM Manmohan Singh was in-charge of the Coal Ministry). How chits were received from Congress party headquarters in the PMO and PMO transmitted those instructions to the Coal Ministry for allotment of blocks,” BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said.
“Right from day one, BJP has been demanding the Prime Minister's resignation as he was the then Coal Minister under whose signature and seal the monumental scam happened,” party spokesman Prakash Javadekar said.
The BJP leader claimed instead of accepting Parekh 2004 proposal for auction, the UPA Government deliberately kept the Cabinet note in cold storage so as to enable it to allot coal blocks arbitrarily.
The BJP sought to know why Minister of State for Coal from 2006 to 2009, Dasari Narayan Rao, who did not take note of Parekh's note and against whom a quid pro quo for favours done has come to light, was not even questioned by CBI.
CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said, “What is required is a speedy completion of the investigation and a thorough revelation of who did what and on that basis action must follow.”
Yechury said that though the PM had “reluctantly” made a statement in the House, several questions remained unanswered. “Nevertheless, the government in that statement gave an assurance that they will cooperate fully to ensure a thorough probe and bring the guilty to book. That is how we want to proceed,” he said.
However, the Government sought to take refuge in the fact that the matter is sub-judice and hit out at BJP for being “irresponsible”.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said, “Our attention has been drawn to some reports which have appeared in the sections of press today. Most respectfully, I would like to submit that the entire matter is under investigation and the investigation that is being monitored by the Supreme Court of India directly. Therefore, it is inappropriate for people to be commenting in a manner in which they've done.”