Will CBI quiz PM Manmohan Singh on Coalgate?

Is Singh likely to be called by the investigating agency to record his statement in the coal blocks allocation scam case?

As the Opposition parties allege that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is evading all questions related to coal blocks missing files, can the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) quiz the PM under the current circumstances? Are the crucial files relating to the coal block allocations deliberately made to disappear to derail the Supreme Court- monitored investigation into the controversy? The missing files row prompted criticism that heavyweight politicians and bureaucrats were being shielded.

Quoting top sources, The Indian Express reported that in the progress report prepared last month, CBI's superintendent of police KR Chaurasia, an investigating officer in the case, put on record what he called the "requirement'' to examine the Prime Minister among a lengthy list of "pending actions'' in the case.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said: “The PM should volunteer himself for CBI questioning so that the truth comes out”.

 

Political pundits say Singh questioned by the CBI likely to tarnish the PM’s reputation further and may land the Coalgate taint closer to his doorstep.
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. PM 'running away' from questions, 'must' be interrogated in coal scam, says BJP

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On August 30, breaking his silence for the first time on the controversies regarding the coal blocks missing files, Singh said:  “I am not the custodian of files of the coal ministry!”

 

In Parliament, the PM first cautioned the Opposition against any “hasty conclusion” that the files were “indeed missing” and then went on to promise a “thorough investigation” to trace the documents.

 

In June, the CBI’s probe into Coalgate reached the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and its officials. Investigators have recorded statements of two former PMO officials, -- Vini Mahajan and Ashish Gupta -- questioning them as witnesses in the questionable allocation of coal blocks. 

 

The premier investigating agency had hinted that T.K.A. Nair, Manmohan Singh’s adviser, might be called to record statements. Nair was principal secretary in the PMO from 2006 to 2009. Singh held additional charge of the coal ministry for sometime during this period.

 

On August 27, the government admitted in the Supreme Court (SC) that seven of the forty-odd files the CBI has sought in connection with the probe were not available with it, but efforts were on to trace them.

 

The apex court had told the CBI and the government that an FIR must be registered if files relating to controversial coal-block allotments between 1993 and 2010 were not traced within 26 days. 

 

On May 8, the SC had hauled up the CBI, labelling it a “caged parrot”, for sharing a status report on the probe with then law minister Ashwani Kumar and joint secretaries in the PMO and the coal ministry.

 

The primer investigating agency has filed first information reports (FIRs ) against several private companies who were beneficiaries of alleged illegal allocation of coal blocks between 2005 and 2009. The agency is also probing allocations between 1993 and 2004 as part of a preliminary investigation. 

 

Experts are of the view that the files are likely to throw light on charges that illicit transactions were made with private companies during coal-block allocations by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) governments.

 

Coal minister Sripraksh Jaiswal has also promised that “his ministry would leave no stone unturned” in tracing and providing the documents to the CBI.