leaders of Opposition Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley tore into the UPA Government over controversy surrounding law Minister Ashwani Kumar and Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal. “Both Ministers should be sacked immediately and the illegal acts committed by them must be investigated,” the BJP leaders said in a joint statement here.
On the scandal surrounding Ashwani Kumar, the BJP duo claimed that the truth was slipping out only in installments. “The affidavit of the CBI Director today, though couched in a careful language, effectively highlights the extent of interference made by the Government and the efforts to conceal the truth,” they said.
Referring to Para 19 of the CBI affidavit, Jaitley said the portion where the probe agency had stated that ‘it is not clear on what basis weightage was given to those who got the mining contracts’ have been removed at the instance of the Minister.
Similarly, the broadsheets which were part of the CBI report on coal block allotments have also been omitted. Another significant change is the removal of the section where the agency wants to know why the criteria of auction suggested by CAG in 2004 has not been followed even till 2010.
“These are extremely major changes... The investigation was directed at the Coal Minister and the Prime Minister. In a way, the report was shown to possible suspects,” Jaitley said.
BJP’s deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad sought to know from the PMO who authorised its Joint Secretary to attend a meeting with CBI official. “It needs to be known whether such a senior official of the Ministry was directed to suggest changes in the CBI’s status report and who authorised him for this,” Prasad said.
On the issue of Railway Minister PK Bansal’s nephew’s alleged involvement in the bribery case for a plum posting in the Railway, Jaitley said there is a “rhythm” in the way the files moved and the money paid.
“The person who was given the bribes is an alter ego of the Railway Minister in politics and business,” he said, and asked “why should strangers be paid bribesIJ”
Swaraj and Jaitley said the perusal of the recorded telephone conversation would show whether Vijay Singla and Sandeep Goyal were taking money on their own or promising to get the work done through Bansal.
“The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 gets invoked when a public servant either makes money himself or somebody else unfairly makes money because of him. All these telephonic conversations are admissible evidences against Shri Pawan Bansal under section 10 of the Evidence Act,” they said.