If CBI quizzes PM in coal scam, others should be summoned too, says Manish Tewari

Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari on Monday said if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was quizzed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the coal block allocation scam, his predecessors and ministers who held the coal portfolio from 1993 to 2009 should also be summoned by the agency. This follows Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath's statement Singh would face the CBI if summoned on the coal block allocation scam.

Tewari said, "If at all it is being speculated with regard to the prime minister, we must keep in mind the coal allocation covers the entire period from 1993 to 2009 and during this period various other ministers, former prime ministers and leaders of other political parties have also held charge of the coal ministry. This should be a principle which should apply across the board and they, too, should be questioned."

He indicated there was a deliberate attempt "to politicise things in the ongoing investigations".

While returning from the G20 summit held in St Petersburg, Russia, the prime minister had alluded to the Opposition' vociferous demands that he be questioned on the coal block allocation scam, saying, "I am an open book…I have not prevented anybody from looking at my conduct…I have no desire to hide anything from Parliament, whether it is the coal matter or other matters. I have been as forthright as I can."

Critics, however, said he stopped short of stating whether he would submit to questioning before the CBI.

So far, only one prime minister, former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, has been questioned by the CBI. However, the questioning (pertaining to the JMM bribery case) was after Rao demitted office.

The Opposition has been trenchant in its criticism of the prime minister, accusing him of "running away" from Parliament to avoid answering questions on the missing coal files. During the recently concluded monsoon session, the issue had led to several disruptions in both houses of Parliament. Opposition leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley had stepped up their attack after it was reported the CBI director hadn't given an officer from the bureau the go-ahead to question the prime minister in connection with the investigation into the coal scam.

Subsequently, senior Congress leader Kamal Nath stated the prime minister would be available to the CBI if a formal request was made. "Let me say so very bluntly. If the CBI takes a decision that they need to speak to the prime minister on that, there is nothing wrong…Under law, the CBI can question anybody and the prime minister is within the law. So, if the CBI wants to question him, if it finds for the purpose of the investigation, it needs to question him, the prime minister is part of the law."