Parakh's charge against PM should be probed: BJP

BJP today said the charge levelled by former Coal Secretary P C Parakh against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the coal scam calls for "serious, deep" contemplation and should be probed.

Replying to questions on the scam, BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi said, "The basic fact is that what the bureaucrat is saying calls for serious and deep contemplation. His charge is serious and should be looked into."

Asked if he feels the Prime Minister is culpable, he said he is examining the coal blocks allocation scam as head of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee and cannot speak on the issue.

"I cannot say that A or B should be named or not," he said.

To another question about Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma's suggestion that naming corporate chiefs in scams is demoralising for the sector, Joshi said the current situation has developed due to the "wrong policies and corrupt practices" of the UPA government.

"The government should have thought about this issue earlier. The manner in which it has protected the corrupt without paying attention to economic growth has led to this," he said.