No clean chit to PMO yet; Naveen Patnaik may be quizzed

Development comes after former coal secy Parakh said that if he, Birla were named in FIR, even PM should be held responsible

It may not have named the Prime Minister in the coal FIR, but the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) claims there’s no clean chit to his office in the case.

Following former coal secretary PC Parakh’s statement that if he and industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla were named in the FIR, even the PM who took the decision should be made part of the case, a CBI official said the investigation was still underway.

In fact, the FIR says the final approval of allocation of Talabira II block to Hindalco was done by the “Competent Authority”.  

 

In another twist to the case, CBI is likely to examine Naveen Patnaik, chief minister of Odisha, for recommending allocation of coal block to Hindalco in the state. 

 

CBI has learnt that Patnaik wrote letters to the PMO which was handling the additional charge of coal ministry, making a case for K M Birla's group company.

He wrote the letter in the intervening period between May and July 2005, after the 25th Screening Committee’s decision to give the coal block to two public sector units.

As per the CBI FIR, Kumar Mangalam Birla had met coal secretary P C Parakh in July 2005.  

 

In its 14th FIR in the coal block allocation scam, CBI named Birla in the list of accused along with Parakh for criminal conspiracy and abuse of official position.

CBI claimed Birla met the coal secretary to push for the allocation of Talabira II coal block in Jharsuguda district of Orissa in later half of 2005.
 

Since the probe is still underway, CBI is yet to examine various facets of the case, including the motive behind Parakh’s decision to allot the block to Hindalco along with Neyveli Lignite and Mahanadi Coalfields. 

 

CBI sources also revealed that besides unaccounted cash of over Rs 25 crore, the agency had recovered Rs 24 lakh loose cash, along with Kisan Vikas Patra and National Savings Certificate of Rs 17 lakh and retail invoice of Rs 94 lakh for the purchase of gold coins from raids in Hindalco’s Delhi office.

 

The company said in a statement it was taken aback by the discovery of cash at one of its offices by the investigating agency. “It has taken a very serious view of the matter and has instituted an internal team of senior managers to make a thorough investigation and report its findings at the earliest.”

 

Meanwhile, reacting to the controversy around naming of Birla in the coal case,  Bajaj Auto chairman Rahul Bajaj said, "I do not think there is a feeling that government is going after business houses in a knee jerk fashion.”

However, he added that the decisions and actions of the government appear to take industry back to the licence permit raj of pre-1991 days.

“Whether the 2G, the Coal Gate or any other similar case, culprits include the giver and the receiver of illicit funds.  Hence, business and government are both guilty.” 

 

According to Bajaj, after due process of law, a bureaucrat, a politician or a businessman if found guilty, must be severely punished.