Sonia, Rahul under fire for 'leak of secret papers'

BJP asks for clarification after allegation that documents were leaked to Essar; firm denies charge

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday demanded that the Congress leadership, including President Sonia Gandhi and Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, should clarify allegations that confidential government papers were leaked to the Essar group during the last years of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-2 government.

The Essar group's internal emails, filed in the Supreme Court a couple of weeks ago, suggested that a top politician, as finance minister during the UPA government, had sought and got one Santosh Reddy appointed in the group, while advancing the date for a meeting of the group of ministers dealing with the Mahan coal block. The corporate group had a major stake in the Mahan coal block and was pursuing clearances.

Non-governmental organisation Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), which filed these internal emails in the Supreme Court in mid-May, also demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the case. It has also been alleged that the corporate group had access to confidential documents of the government, including Budget papers.

However, the Essar group denied that it had any such access.

"The subject matter of mails under reference is an ongoing case in the court. The matter is sub judice. Essar would once again like to reiterate that the documents being quoted were already in the public domain and it has not indulged in any illegal or improper act. Hence your inference that Essar officials had access to the confidential documents of the government is wrong. The emails, even if true, do not disclose commission of any wrongdoing," an Essar spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the BJP demanded that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi clarify on the issue. "It shouldn't surprise anybody that confidential government papers were leaked during the UPA years. What else can you expect from a government when every ministry had a for sale board hanging on their door? All that was needed was somebody to name the right price. This controversy exposes the Congress way of working," BJP National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said.