Coal Ministry turns complainant in missing file case

CBI set to file PE

Central Bureau of Investigation will register a preliminary enquiry into the missing coal files in two days. The agency is lodging an enquiry, based on a letter given by the coal ministry to CBI yesterday that stated, “this (letter) may be treated as a complaint.” 

 

Coal ministry has told CBI that around 15 files are untraceable, some of these are regarding the coal block allocations by the 26th screening committee, it is learnt. CBI, on the basis of the findings of the preliminary enquiry will lodge the FIR. The agency would need an FIR to conduct any raids in the ministry’s premises. 

 

Coal ministry, in its first letter sent on September 16, did not convey its intentions of registering any complaint. However, it was after a meeting with CBI officials that the ministry sent a fresh letter to the agency, to formally become a complainant in this case.
 

CBI needs access to these particular files to substantiate some of the coal cases. CBI director Ranjit Sinha had earlier stated that it would not be possible to file chargesheets in certain coal FIRs if the “missing files” were not found. 

 

The Supreme Court had on 29 August directed CBI to furnish a comprehensive list of documents which are yet to be received from the government. The apex court had asked the government to make the documents available in two weeks. The CBI had, through Attorney General (AG) Goolam E Vahanvati, provided a fresh list of documents to the ministry containing outstanding papers yet to be furnished for the probe in alleged irregularities in coal block allocations between 1993 and 2009. 

 

The new list contains 26 papers related to allocations for over two dozen companies including Tata Sponge Iron Ltd, Sunflag Iron & Steel, Adhunik Corp, Jharkhand Ispat, Rathi Steel & Power, Pushp Steel & Mining and Bhushan Power & Steel. The list also contains a recommendation letter from former Member of Parliament (MP) Vijay Darda, forwarded by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), for allocation of Bander coal block to AMR Iron & Steel and a report of Coal India’s experts on the financial strength of applicant companies.

 

An inter-ministerial committee headed by coal ministry’s additional secretary AK Dubey, formed with the sole purpose of locating missing documents earlier, has met five times so far. In addition, multiple search committees with representatives from power, coal, steel and commerce ministries have been searching for the documents over the past month.