Harin Raval resigns as additional solicitor general

Harin Raval resigned as additional solicitor general Tuesday, a day after locking horns with Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati on the vetting of the CBI status report on its probe into the allocation of coal blocks by Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and two officials of the Prime Minister's Office and the coal ministry.

Confirming that he had quit, Raval said that he has already sent his resignation letter but declined to dwell on the reasons for taking the step.

"You know that I don't speak on such matters," Raval told IANS.

On Monday, Raval had accused Vahanvati of influencing the CBI probe into the allocation of coal blocks.

Raval is piqued that the entire blame for misleading the apex court that the political executive had not vetted the investigating agency's status report has been laid at his door step and Vahanvati, who too was in the loop, got away unscathed.

Raval, in his April 29 letter to Vahanvati, had sought to remind him that his stand before the court March 12 that the contents of the status report were not known to him was not correct.

"...while replying to the queries on 12 March as to what was contained in the status report, you (Vahanvati) had deemed it appropriate to take a stand that the contents of the status report were not known to you (Vahanvati), which fact you knew to be incorrect," Raval's letter read.

"On account of your statement (not aware of the content of March 8 status report of CBI), I felt embarrassed and was forced to take a stand in the court consistent with your submission made as Attorney General for India that the contents of the status report were not known to you and that they were not shared with the government", Raval said in his letter, explaining the predicament the attorney general had placed him in court.

Raval further said: "The trigger point of this letter is the remark made by you to me, on Friday 26th April, 2013 inside the gentleman's cloakroom of the second floor, when you asked me 'Harin, why are you angry with me' and I politely replied to you. You further remarked that 'You did not contradict me in court'. Sir, you are aware that on the contrary, the truth is otherwise. It was I who did not contradict you in the court."

Raval's resignation was the logical consequence of his stand putting the attorney general in the dock that he (Vahanvati) was in the know of Ashwani Kumar and two other officials of the PMO and coal ministry vetted the CBI status report on its investigations into the coal block allocation case that was given to apex court March 8.