Congress on the backfoot; BJP demands SIT probe

The govt had interfered in the preparation of the CBI report on the scam

The coal block allocation scam today took another turn, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lashing out at the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre, accusing it of being a “rogue government”. This follows reports indicating the government had interfered in the preparation of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) report on the scam.

Congress, however, rejected the charges and ruled out the resignation of Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, as demanded by BJP. Sources indicate the Congress is “serious” on the issue and the party’s core group, which held a meeting this evening (presided over by party president Sonia Gandhi), discussed the issue. Kumar, not a member of the core group, was summoned to the meeting in connection with reports that he had “vetted” the CBI probe report to be submitted before the Supreme Court.

Arun Jaitley, leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, accused the government of not allowing CBI to function independently and demanded a special investigation team (SIT) be constituted to probe the matter. Jaitley said, “These facts now conclusively show CBI will not be honestly allowed to investigate this case and, therefore, the system will have to seriously consider whether an SIT must take over the administration and investigation into the coal scam. The coal scam should be handed over to a SIT for the truth to come out.”

Jaitley said, “When ministers, civil servants and officials try that the Supreme Court should not be acquainted with the full truth, this is interference in the administration of justice. The government owes an explanation.” He demanded CBI’s original, unaltered report be made public and placed before the Supreme Court. He alleged the coal scam underscored how coal block allocations were “tainted” and carried out through sheer “nepotism”, even when power plants in the country were starved of coal.

Sushma Swaraj, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, tweeted, “This is a very serious matter. This is evidence of the government’s pressure on the CBI to save the prime minister.”

Rejecting charges the Congress-led UPA had interfered in preparing the CBI report, party spokesman Rashid Alvi said, “There is no question of the resignation of Law Minister Ashwani Kumar. The Supreme Court has already asked CBI to file an affidavit in this regard. CBI will file its affidavit and the truth will come out.” He added, “The matter is being investigated under the supervision of the Supreme Court. BJP should wait and not try to misguide the country and create obstacles in the way of investigations.”

Meanwhile, in Kanpur today, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal urged the Opposition not to politicise the issue of the coal blocks allocation report. “If anyone feels there are irregularities involved in the report they should approach a court of law,” he said.