Letters: Coalgate: A long litigation

It is indeed an irony that a man of Manmohan Singh's unimpeachable integrity has been summoned by a special Central Bureau of Investigation court as one of the "accused" for the alleged commission of offences involving the allotment of certain coal blocks to a company owned by Kumar Mangalam Birla. The court, in its judgment, has reportedly even invoked a charge of criminal conspiracy by a public servant, not pressed by the public prosecutor, which if proved, will send Singh behind bars for the rest of his life. While it can't be argued that by virtue of his being a former prime minister, the law of the land should not apply to him, one wonders whether mere reconsideration of someone's representation for the allotment of coal blocks for industrial use and pursuing the matter for expeditious decision, would by itself constitute a criminal offence of the nature slapped on Singh and others, including the then coal secretary.

If the policy and the procedure laid down then were followed diligently for such allotments, with no trace of criminality or gross irregularity, one finds it hard to understand how such grave criminal charges can be brought against people taking such decisions. Singh and others will have to be prepared for a protracted litigation given our slow judicial process. It will be too early for the Bharatiya Janata Party to celebrate.

S K Choudhury, Bengaluru

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