BJP demands law minister's resignation

Kumar had asked CBI last month to show him its report on coal investigation before it was submitted to Supreme Court

BJP on Tuesday demanded the resignation of Law Minister Ashwani Kumar after the Supreme Court took strong exception to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) 'sharing' its report on the coal block allocation issue with him.

"We have been demanding the resignation of Kumar because the letter written by Additional Solicitor General Harin Raval to Attorney General G E Vahanvati clearly says that a meeting was held last month at the Law Minister's office where Kumar asked for changes to be made to the CBI report that was to be presented to the Supreme Court," BJP spokesperson Nirmala Seetharaman told reporters here.

The apex court on Tuesday said sharing of information with the government about the probe into the scam has "shaken the entire process" and CBI need not take instructions from "political masters" on their probe.

"It is also a sad day for Indian democracy that the top legal brains have unfortunately under some stress gone so far as to cooperate with the government rather than keep the interest of the public intact," she added.

She said it is a classic case of legal experts, who should have been functioning independently and advising government, lowering the standards of the bar by becoming agents. The revelations are also shocking for a premier investigating agency like CBI, which is probing the Coal issue, being directed by the people who are themselves in a position to answer, she said.