PM wants truth to be told to apex court: Solicitor General

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IANS New Delhi
Last Updated : May 02 2013 | 7:50 PM IST

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says he cannot interfere in an investigative matter and is concerned that truth should be told to the Supreme Court in the coal blocks issue, Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran said Thursday.

"The prime minister says he cannot interfere in an investigative matter...he is concerned that truth should be told to the court and it should not get an impression that anything was being hidden," Parasaran told Times Now channel.

He also ruled out the possibility of any political interference by Law Minister Ashwani Kumar in a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) report on the allocation of coal blocks that has been submitted to the Supreme Court.

"There could not have been a political interference of the law minister in the presence of the law officers," said Parasaran.

He also said that the CBI consulted the law minister at the draft report stage and that it is still not the final investigation report.

"CBI comes under the ministry of personnel and training and the law ministry provides legal advice on some of the issues referred to it by the CBI," said Parasaran.

Noting that the prime minister cannot monitor every detail, the solicitor general said he decided to tell the apex court about the role of the Prime Minister's Office.

"The PMO has been helping the CBI with many clarifications related to the coal block transactions over the past eight months," he added.

Parasaran denied there was any pressure on him.

"As law officers, we are not under any pressure," he said.

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First Published: May 02 2013 | 7:49 PM IST

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